RECYCLING banks will be removed if residents do not use them correctly, says Dorset Waste Partnership (DWP).

According to the partnership, glass, paper, cans and plastics are being wrongly placed with other recycling at 'bring banks' around the county, or just dumped on the roadside.

Banks for these specific items were removed by the partnership last year as they are now collected at the kerbside, but this has not stopped residents contaminating other banks, such as those for cartons.

DWP said the practise had "ruined entire banks of recyclable material" meaning some services were becoming "too costly to provide".

East Dorset District councillor Ray Bryan, who sits on the DWP’s joint committee, said: "It would be such a shame to lose the carton recycling service in Dorset just because a few well-meaning individuals are unaware they are using the bring banks incorrectly.

"I think many people falsely believe these items are sorted by hand, when in reality we are completely reliant on residents putting the right things in the right banks.

"We ask that everyone please help us to protect our valuable carton recycling service by upping the number of cartons we collect and preventing wrong items being placed in these banks."

Cartons, such as those made by Tetra Pak, Elopak and SIG Combibloc, typically used for food and drink packaging, are made from fibre, plastic and aluminium foil, so are recycled separately to cardboard and paper.

They can be flattened and taken to a carton bank. Once collected, they are taken to a facility in Halifax and broken down so they can be recycled into a variety of products, from cardboard tubes to garden furniture.

Joint committee member and district councillor Barbara Manuel said: "We know most of these residents are trying to do the right thing by taking their glass, paper, cardboard, cans and plastics to the car parks where the remaining bring banks are, but this is now incorrect and completely unnecessary.

"The kerbside Recycle for Dorset service is available to everyone to conveniently recycle these items and we will take extra recycling at the kerbside if placed in a sturdy container.

"There are also dozens of recycling locations around the county - including our own household recycling centres - that accept these items.

"We just ask that you don’t put incorrect items in the wrong banks, or leave them on the floor."