Auckland Council recycling rules: How bad do your habits have to ...

Auckland Council will confiscate bins from repeat recycling offenders, it's been revealed. 

In a bid to crack down on "cross-contamination" of recycling, the council is introducing a three strikes policy which will see the worst offenders put on a probationary plastic bag period.  

The council is making the move after reports of dirty nappies, old shoes and even a wire dish rack making its way to the sorting facility. The crackdown is still in a trial phase, with 87 households already losing their bins.  

Parul Sood, council waste solutions general manager, told AM confiscating bins doesn't happen lightly.  

Sood said properties caught flouting the rules will get three warnings.  

"What we want to do is communicate with residents that are getting recycling grossly wrong. 

"Our methodology is that if you've got a bin that you've put out for collection with the wrong items in it, we would love some information for you and then follow up a few more times to ensure you're getting it right. 

"Then we will follow it up with repercussions." 

Once a bin is taken away, the council will replace it with clear plastic bags for a probationary period.  

"Once you can show us you can do it, we will give you your bin back," Sood said. 

But to get to that point, Sood said households would have to be repeatedly acting poorly.  

"It's not just when you misplace your plastics or when the lid is on," she added. 

"It is actually cross-contamination we are really worried about."