Community recycling banks may have to be removed if contamination by "selfish" people continues, warns Powys County Council.

Tonnes of recyclable material are needlessly going to waste due to general rubbish such as food and dog mess being put into community recycling sites.

“This selfish behaviour of a few irresponsible people is a huge waste of everyone else’s time and effort," Cabinet Member for Waste and Recycling Cllr Heulwen Hulme said. "If the community recycling banks continue to be misused in this way, they may have to be removed.”

Contamination means that all the material within the banks is rejected by the recycling processors and ends up having to be sent to landfill.

Machynlleth County Councillor Michael Williams said contamination at the town's recycling site has been "particularly bad" recently.

“Not only have we found all sorts of non-recyclable rubbish in with the recycling, but a few residents are insisting on using our card bank to get rid of dog poo!," he said.

“During a global pandemic, when resources are stretched and everyone is doing their upmost to stay safe and stop the spread of the coronavirus, anti-social acts of this kind, pose a significant health risk to our staff and other site users and is totally unacceptable – there is no excuse for it. Please use your sites responsibly.”

Members of the public are urged to report any incidences that they find or see at community recycling sites. Powys County Council says that CCTV footage will help catch and reprimand offenders.

People who are found guilty of deliberately dumping rubbish in the recycling banks can expect to receive a fixed penalty notice.