Since the launch of a campaign in July to help residents take extra care with the recycled waste they put in their black bins, the amount of 'contaminated' waste has reduced by 42%.
Back in July, 417 tonnes of the city's collected recycling was unrecyclable. In August that figure had dropped to 396 tonnes and last month (September) the figure was 241 tonnes.
Cabinet Member for City Services, Councillor John Reynolds: "We're very grateful to all residents for taking that bit extra care in what they put in their black recycling bin. It means that we can process far more of the recyclable waste we collect from households every week. This in turn helps to cut the economic and environmental costs of incinerated waste."
Fronted by cartoon character Stan Can, the campaign has reduced the amount of waste items mistakenly placed in the black bin such as electrical goods, nappies, textiles and food waste.
Such items slow down the manufacturing process of recyclable waste into useful products at the recycling plant in Leicester. When residents have put such items in their recycle bin, crews leave a card asking for the 'contaminated' waste to be removed before the bin is taken away on the next available collection date.
Councillor Reynolds added: "Wolverhampton residents are enthusiastic recyclers with 95% using the service and the council's really grateful for their continued co-operation."
An analysis of contaminated waste showed that some residents were mistakenly placing in their black bin items such as electrical items, nappies, textiles and food waste - all of which can slow down the manufacturing process at the recycling plant in Leicester.
- released: Tuesday 22 October, 2013