COPELAND Council is urging people to use recycling sites responsibly after a decaying deer carcass was found in a cardboard bank.
The dead animal – thought to have been killed on the road – was put into the bank at the Ravenglass recycling site in the National Park car park, and had to be removed by waste staff.
Copeland’s Portfolio Holder for Waste, Coun Steven Morgan, said: “As well as the upset to the resident who discovered the carcass, this irresponsible action costs Copeland tax payers dearly.
“We first had a report of a dead deer on the side of the road. We diverted staff a considerable distance to collect it but, after a long search, they were unable to find it. They returned to their earlier tasks, now a considerable time behind.
“Then, when someone reported finding a deer in a recycling bin, we had to send a crew of two to remove and bag up the animal.”
Staff said the deer was a young one , but it needed two people to move it. It had been dead for a while and become infested with maggots.
Coun Morgan said the thoughtless action had used up large amounts of staff time unnecessarily: “We had to gain the special approval needed to take animal carcasses to landfill, and send staff with it to Lillyhall – resulting in delayed wheelie bin collections elsewhere in the borough.
“We had to pay for all the card in the bank to be disposed of because it was not fit to be recycled. And the bank itself had to be removed and thoroughly cleaned before it could be put back in place.”
While this is an extreme and unusual find, household and other waste is frequently discovered in the borough council’s recycling banks. Coun Morgan added: “We would ask people to only put appropriate recyclable materials in recycling banks. If they are in any doubt as to what can and can’t be put in there, they can visit www.copeland.gov.uk, or read the signs on the recycling banks.”
