UNWASHED plastic bottles which had been placed in a recycling bank resulted in a number of West Devon recycling collectors feeling unwell.

An incident took place at the council’s operational waste depot in Tavistock, when recycling banks were emptied and their contents crushed before being sent for recycling.

When the bank was emptied and the bottles were crushed a combination of different liquids merged and produced a gas. This is likely to have been caused by unwashed bottles being recycled. Operatives working at the site were unfortunately exposed to the resulting gas. Ambulance and fire services were called to determine if the gases were dangerous and to administer first aid to the workers/staff.

Fortunately the gases were not harmful and all those exposed were fine, but this has prompted West Devon Borough Council to appeal to all residents to wash out empty plastic bottles before recycling them.

Cllr Robert Sampson, West Devon Borough Council’s Lead Member for Commercial Services, said: ‘We were very fortunate that the gases released were not harmful and that everyone is now ok, but it was a frightening time for all of those workers concerned. 

‘A build up of a combinations of gases from bottles which may have contained, bleach, white spirit, soft drinks, and cleaning products created an odour which none of them had ever smelt before and it made them feel sick.

‘There was then a knock on effect for all of those residents who were expecting their recycling to be collected that day, as the incident shut down the depot and rendered the staff unable to work.’

West Devon Borough Council is reminding everyone who recycles their plastic bottles, that they need to wash them out before they put them out for collection or place them in a collection bank.