THE council has reassured residents their recycling is not being taken to landfill after ordinary refuse trucks were seen picking up recyclable material.

Adam Cumiskey, 35, a BBC journalist, of Priory Avenue, Walthamstow, said: “It was something I noticed this morning.

“They were just taking stuff from the black boxes and chucking it in the normal refuse collection.”

Mr Cumiskey said one of the refuse collectors told him the recycling was being taken to landfill as there were not enough recycling vans available.

But the authority has said the refuse trucks were only used after four of its dedicated recycling trucks broke down and that material was not being compacted in the usual way.

Two of them were replaced by green waste recycling trucks and the other two were replaced by older refuse trucks.

The refuse trucks' 'compacting plates' were set at a much lower level than usual, meaning recycling could later be sorted mechanically, the council confirmed.

Cabinet Member for Environment, Cllr Bob Belam, said: "I can guarantee every item we collect for recycling is recycled.

"On occasion some vehicles may be unavailable and in these circumstances we have to use different vehicles to collect recycling on a mixed basis.

"When this happens the items we collect are separated mechanically afterwards and the different types of material are sent for recycling.

"If residents have any queries about changes to the recycling arrangements they should contact Waltham Forest Direct on 020 8496 3000 for further information."