Far too much recyclable material is being put into black bins by Teignbridge residents, according to the district council.

It's planning to take action to change the behaviour of residents who don't recycle, as part of a 10-point plan to increase recycling rates and reduce waste.

Although Teignbridge is in the top 25 of waste collection authorities nationally and third in the South West, members of the Executive voted unanimously to do more, at their meeting on Tuesday, March 2.

They agreed to seek funding for new initiatives and campaigns to make sure that people are aware of the recycling options.

The meeting heard that an analysis of more than 1,000 black bins showed that 51 per cent of the contents could be recycled.

While 49 per cent was residual waste, 21 per cent was food waste, 9.3 per cent garden waste, 5 per cent paper, 6.4 per cent textiles, 3.7 per cent plastic, 3.2 per cent card, 0.9 per cent glass, 0.8 per cent metals, and 0.3 per cent electrical waste, all of which are recyclable.

Asked by Cllr Stephen Purser what happens when the recycling crews come across waste that should be recycled, Cllr Alistair Dewhirst said there was a system for recording the properties concerned, and enforcement officers could visit and talk to people.

He added: "The feeling on that is that essentially we have a small number of hardcore types who won't, but also have we the new housing estates, and we are targeting the new estates because as often as not, it's just that they don't understand our system, so we explain to them what they need to do."

Cllr Andrew McGregor added: "We should laud the vast majority of the residents as they do recycle and recycle very well, but there are an unfortunate small number who haven't got a handle on it yet and don't recycle."

What will the council be doing?

The council agreed to seek to increase recycling participation in new housing estates and other low participating areas, continue to provide community recycling banks and work to further improve its systems and communication with residents, who can request additional recycling containers and garden waste bins.

The meeting also looked at the issue of side waste – additional waste that doesn't fit into the black bins. Residents can currently request the collection of up to five bags of side waste, three times in any 12-month period.

The report on this issue said: "Last year we received 1,378 requests for additional side waste collections, amounting to an estimated 28 tonnes of residual waste. Of these approximately a third were repeat requests from the same household. As a means to reducing residual waste this service approach could be reviewed to lower the allowance and resulting residual waste tonnage."

It concluded: "At a time of extreme financial pressure for the council, any actions that require additional budget, resources, or reduce income should be carefully considered before being implemented.

Two proposals will be considered in more detail – to remove the additional residual black bin policy or to increase the charge levied, and to examine whether the side waste policy should be reduced to one a year or a charge introduced.

A warning to fly-tippers

On the issue of fly-tipping, Cllr Dewhirst praised the work of environmental wardens, and issued a warning to those who dump their rubbish instead of disposing of it in a responsible way.

He said: "I want people to be aware that if they go out and fly-tip, and litter in our beautiful district, they will end up with a fine. Our wardens have been levying fines - and for dog fouling – and it is a really important message. I don't want people pilloried from the nearest lamp-post but I do want them to understand that if they flytip in our district they will get caught."

To report incidents of littering or fly-tipping, go to www.teignbridge.gov.uk/litter or www.teignbridge.gov.uk/flytipping.