A report by Business Waste claimed that 13.34% of recycling under Ipswich Borough Council is rejected.
However, the council has refuted the report – stating that its figures have the local authority as among the lowest in Suffolk.
Councillor Phil Smart, portfolio holder for environment and transport said: “We are disappointed to see these figures as they don’t match our contamination rate records.
“Our data shows that Ipswich has some of the lowest contamination rates in Suffolk, with Suffolk County Council confirming that there were no rejected loads between February and June 2025.
“We have an estimated 1,800 loads per year and we can confirm that Ipswich has not had any rejected loads since January 2023.
“Comparisons with other councils can also be misleading, as some already collect food waste and glass, which affects their recycling rates.”
However, environmentalactivist and founder of Rubbish Walks, Jason Alexander, said: “There is massive room for improvement which would suggest that what the way that we’ve been doing things up to this point isn’t necessarily working.”
According to the Business Waste report, Ipswich residents sent 15,678 tonnes of waste for recycling, of which 2,092 tonnes were rejected.
This waste will likely either be sent to energy-from-waste plants or, worst case scenario, go to landfill.
Mr Alexander, 54, added: “There’s a lot of finger pointing between residents and the council blaming each other – when really – both are at fault.
Environmentalist Jason Alexander (Image: Newsquest)
“I think on the public side there’s an element of laziness, where people can’t be bothered and pop things in any bin and think its now someone else’s problem.
“There’s an element of ‘wishcycling’ where people think ‘I’m not sure if I can recycle it, so I’ll stick it in the recycling bin and hopefully it’ll get recycled’ and they never know if it has been.
“And then on the council’s side, they haven’t done a good enough job of education and raising awareness on how to recycle.”
Mr Smart added: “We’d like to thank our residents for their ongoing efforts to improve recycling in Ipswich. If anyone is unsure about what goes in each bin, please contact us or visit our website for guidance: www.ipswich.gov.uk/waste-and-recycling/your-bins.
“We continue to educate residents regarding recycling and what can go into recycling bins and what cannot, our crews conduct bin checks with stickers fixed to let households know that their bin can’t be collected due to contamination and provide guidance on what they need to do. ”