Eastbourne resident 'shocked' as refuse collector dumps rubbish in garden

An Eastbourne resident was left ‘shocked’ after a camera recorded a refuse collector dumping rubbish in his garden.
The rubbish being put on Cristiano Oliveira's gardenThe rubbish being put on Cristiano Oliveira's garden
The rubbish being put on Cristiano Oliveira's garden

Cristiano Oliveira said the incident happened on May 13 after a worker found a duvet and other non-recyclable rubbish inside someone else’s recycling bin.

He added, "I totally understand this is not the type of rubbish to be inside the recycling bin, and I would not say anything if this was my rubbish.

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"What should be the proceedings when something like this happens? It’s not to dump it on someone else’s garden, I guess.”

Mr Oliveira of Crawley Crescent said he contacted the council but found its response rude.

He said, “I spoke with the council on the same day, raised my concerns, and they just gave me a very patronising reply where they said that I should know what should go in the bins.

“What they don’t realise is that it was not my rubbish.”

The father said the council arranged for a van to come and pick up the duvet.

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He added, “They [the refuse collectors] just had a pay rise. I didn’t have a pay rise.

"Now they have had this pay rise we should expect better service."

Mr Oliveira said he fears that there could have been broken glass or needles amongst the rubbish dumped in his garden.

The father said this is a concern as his three-year-old daughter plays in the garden.

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He added, “I was shocked. I couldn’t believe it when my neighbour told me what had happened and sent me the video.”

Eastbourne Borough Council said, “When non-recyclable items are put inside recycling bins, our usual procedure is to tag the bin with a contaminated label to highlight the problem and alert the resident. However on this occasion, upon looking inside the bin, the recycling crew removed the duvet so that the recycling underneath could be emptied.

“It was not until a complaint was made that it came to our attention the duvet had been left on a neighbour’s property, so we dispatched a vehicle to clear it away - however, it had gone. We are liaising with the neighbour and have offered to dispose of the duvet."

Trade union GMB was contacted for a comment but did not respond.

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