Bruce Scobie does his bit when it comes to recycling. He washes out the bottles, separates the different containers, and knows exactly which numbered cast-offs of modern consumerism can find new life in a journey starting at his bright green council recycling bin.

But last Tuesday morning the environmental message Hamilton City Council has spent years fostering felt like so much trash to Scobie when he watched shortcut-taking contractors tip his street's recyclables straight into the rubbish truck.

Recycling collector Waste Management holds the contract to collect rubbish for the Hamilton City Council and said what Scobie saw was an isolated incident.

The city council waste management and minimisation plan has a target of a 50 per cent increase in per capita kerbside recycling, A 10 per cent reduction in the per capita amount of rubbish to landfill, 25 per cent decrease in kerbside rubbish to landfill and a 10 per cent increase in the amount of material diverted from landfill. Read more here