\n A report by Business Waste claimed that 13.34% of recycling under Ipswich Borough Council is rejected.\n<\/p>\n
\n However, the council has refuted the report – stating that its figures have the local authority as among\u00a0the lowest in Suffolk.\n<\/p>\n
\n Councillor Phil Smart, portfolio holder for environment and transport said: “We are disappointed to see these figures as they don\u2019t match our contamination rate records.\n<\/p>\n
\n “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.\n<\/p>\n
\n “We have an estimated 1,800 loads per year and we can confirm that Ipswich has not had any rejected loads since January 2023.\n<\/p>\n
\n “Comparisons with other councils can also be misleading, as some already collect food waste and glass, which affects their recycling rates.”\n<\/p>\n
\n However, environmentalactivist and founder of Rubbish Walks, Jason Alexander,\u00a0said: “There\u00a0is\u00a0massive room for improvement which would suggest that what the way that we’ve been doing things up to this point isn’t necessarily working.”\n<\/p>\n
\n According to the Business Waste report, Ipswich residents\u00a0sent 15,678 tonnes of waste for recycling, of which 2,092 tonnes were rejected.\n<\/p>\n
\n This waste will likely either be sent to energy-from-waste\u00a0plants or, worst case scenario, go to landfill.\n<\/p>\n
\n 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.\n<\/p>\n
\n Environmentalist Jason Alexander (Image: Newsquest)\n<\/p>\n
\n “I think\u00a0on the public side there’s an element of laziness,\u00a0where people can’t be bothered and\u00a0pop things in any bin and think its now\u00a0someone else’s problem.\n<\/p>\n
\n “There’s an element of ‘wishcycling’ where people think\u00a0‘I’m not sure if I can\u00a0recycle it, so I’ll stick it in\u00a0the recycling bin and hopefully it’ll get recycled’ and they never know if it has been.\n<\/p>\n
\n “And then on the council’s side, they haven’t done a good enough job of education and raising awareness on how to recycle.”\n<\/p>\n