A COUNCIL has launched an investigation after bin men were filmed dumping rubbish and recycling – carefully separated by residents – all together again.

A resident, who has asked not to be identified, filmed the footage from an upstairs rear window in Carrville, near Durham City, on Tuesday morning.

It shows Durham County Council bin men repeatedly putting black waste bins and blue-topped recycling bins side by side at the back of a bin wagon and their contents being dumped together in the vehicle.

Later, one worker also empties a green box – meant for recycling glass – into the van.

The video maker said: “I was so disappointed to see that in our street at least, all our hard work in cleaning and separating our recycling appears to be in vain.

“Of course I worry about the effect on the environment if all our waste goes into landfill.

“However, in some ways it seems worst of all that I’ve been teaching my young son about recycling: ‘Good, that’s paper. Well done, that goes in the green box for glass’.

“It’s hard to see it as anything less than a cruel joke.”

The resident said the practice began on Tuesday, September 25, and has happened at least three times.

They said the bin men were "truly ace", working long hours in all conditions and called on the council to give them the resources and commitment they needed to do the job.

Oliver Sherratt, the council’s head of direct services, said it had investigated the incident and would continue to monitor the situation.

He said there had been a number of incidents of food waste being put into recycling bins in the Carrville area, meaning it all had to go to landfill.

“The identification of contaminated bins should be, however, on an individual basis and this does not appear to have happened here, which is being taken up as a serious matter with the crews concerned,” Mr Sherratt said.

The council switched to alternative weekly collections for waste and recycling earlier this year. Mr Sherratt urged residents to put items in the correct bin to maximise recycling.