PEOPLE in Powys have been told to recycle correctly or they risk losing the community sites.

The county council has warned contamination at some of the community recycling sites across Powys has resulted in tonnes of recyclable material needlessly going to waste.

With regular kerbside collections for every household and the reopening of the household waste recycling centres, the council there is no excuse for general rubbish, including food and dog mess, to be put into the community recycling sites.

“We are horrified at the types of rubbish we are finding in some of our community recycling sites," said Councillor Heulwen Hulme, cabinet member for waste and recycling.

“This type of contamination means that all the material within the banks is rejected by the recycling processors and ends up having to be sent to landfill.

“This selfish behaviour of a few irresponsible people is a huge waste of everyone else’s time and effort and results in recyclable material needlessly going to waste.

If the community recycling banks continue to be misused in this way, they may have to be removed.”

Members of the public are urged to report any incidences of contamination that they find or witness at the community recycling sites, including those at Hay-on-Wye's Oxford Road car park and Knighton Community Centre.

This, along with the CCTV we have in place at many of the sites, will help catch and reprimand offenders appropriately," a council spokesperson said.

Individuals found guilty of deliberately dumping rubbish in the recycling banks could be slapped with a fixed penalty notice.