Herts County Council has been explaining why it has stopped accepting rigid plastics at recycling centres.

A council spokesperson said: “Due to current difficulties in marketing the rigid plastics waste stream from the Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC) network in Hertfordshire this material is not currently being recycled.

“This is because it is of generally low quality (e.g. often contaminated with metal parts) and the demand for this type of material has reduced. We hope this is a temporary suspension and our contractor, Amey, is working to resolve this situation as soon as possible.

“While the recycling option is unavailable please can people use the general waste containers at the HWRCs or store the material for recycling at a future time.”

Rigid plastics include such items as toys, garden furniture, buckets and storage crates.