RECYCLING has become more important than ever, after David Attenborough highlighted the devastating impact plastic is having on our environment in Blue Planet II.

But one Calne man was disgusted to find that general waste was being thrown into recycling containers at the Lower Compton recycling centre last weekend.

Ben Vincent, 27, went to the recycling centre on Sunday afternoon to throw away general waste, and was surprised to see signs advising wood, plastic and non-recyclables to be put into the same container.

“I was looking for the general waste skip as rubbish goes into separate containers for landfill,” he explained.

“I was a little confused as there were four different signs on one bin. I asked a member of staff where the waste was to go and I was pointed in the direction of it, it is all going in that skip.

“I looked in when I put my rubbish in and it was completely mixed up with plastic, wood and landfill waste. There is no way it was going to be separated.”

“It all seems a bit backwards as we are being told to recycle so much as a nation.

“It is a waste of taxpayers’ money. We want to do what is best for the environment so why are we throwing things away that we can recycle?

“I go out of my way to get to the recycling centre. This is not acceptable.”

A spokesman for Hills Waste Solutions, said: “At the Honeyball recycling centre on Sunday, April 15, the recycling containers for wood and rigid plastic reached capacity in the early afternoon but could not be changed due to operational reasons.

“Materials deposited at the site can only be accepted into containers and we offered a disposal alternative to members of the public who wished to use it rather than returning on a later date.

“We apologise to people who were not able to recycle their materials as expected.”