The 10 oddest things councils have found in bins
Resource asked local authorities to tell us the strangest things residents have put out for recycling. Here's the list of the top 10 things that definitely aren't recyclable, but the public tried anyway.
Boxing Not so Clever
10 things that definitely aren't recyclable, but the public tried anyway
Resource asked local authorities to tell us the strangest things residents have put out for recycling. And the winners are...
10. Explosive shells, hand grenades, live ammo (in the South West)
9. A green bike that came from the garden put in with ‘green garden waste’ (Geddit? Someone did in the South West)
8. Cannabis plants put in with green waste (which, environmentally, is sensible… in the West Midlands)
7. A suitcase full of ‘marital aids’ (again, the crazy West Midlands)
6. An artificial leg (requested for pickup in the South East)
5. Live animals (a snake escaped from a local pet shop in the South East of England, kittens in Scotland, and a goose now happily living out its days in a wildlife rescue centre in the West Midlands)
4. Dead animals (amongst others: a dead pheasant in the East Midlands; dead goats in cardboard and paper bins in various locations; a dead badger in the South West; a dead heron in the South East; and a snake in a plastic box with the plastics recycling, again in the South East)
3. A sheep’s head (near a market in the South East)
2. Requests to pick up a mother-in-law with bulky waste collection (many a resident’s dream, evidently)
1. A human foot (never reunited with the rest of its body in the South East)
An honourable mention also goes to Wastepack CEO Barry Van Danzig’s story below. It’s not a case of mistaken recycling, but we couldn’t resist sharing this telephonic interaction he once had with a supermarket…
9am: “Er, we have a tramp in the bin – what do we do?”
“Tell him to get out.”
9.30am: “He has found some sausages in the bin and he plans to eat them – what do I do now?”
“Tell him not to eat them as they may be harmful to him.”
10am: “He has lit a small fire in the bin to cook the sausages, what do I do now?”
“Best call the police now as the bin is plastic and we could have a fire.”
10.30am: “It’s alright the tramp has gone, but so has the bin – can we have a new one please?”
The fire had nearly burned the 1,100-litre eurobin in the yard to the ground, melting it completely but causing no other damage. We do not know what happened to the sausages!
