One in three trucks of household recycling are being dumped in landfill due to high levels of contamination in the Moree Plains region, and Tamworth is not far behind.
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Challenge CEO Barry Murphy and his teams are having to work overtime in both the Tamworth and Narrabri facilities, with Narrabri also servicing the Moree Plains and Gwydir Shires.
Mr Murphy believes that the recent War on Waste movement may be having an impact on people's actions, saying that "some residents are taking it too far."
"The War on Waste shows and Tamworth's Waste Warrior Expo have been great - people are really engaged and interested in recycling - but I just think we need a bit more education," he said.
"I think residents are generally trying to do the right thing, although we might need to re-visit what is and what isn't recyclable."
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Lately the facilities has been inundated with bags of disposable nappies, food waste, motor vehicle parts and clothing, which are all having an impact on the staff and machinery.
Unfortunately the Narrabri operation has also recorded a massive increase in the number of used syringes being found in household recycling, with several trucks being sent back to Moree council, who are then forced to dump the recycling at the Narrabri landfill site.
Moree Shire waste manager Tahra Sayers said it only takes two bins with significant contamination to ruin the whole load.
"The sorting of recycled waste is done by hand by a dedicated team at Challenge," she said.
"The team take great pride in their work, but cannot be expected to sort through dirty nappies, rotting food scraps and syringes, hence contaminated loads are unfortunately diverted to landfill.”
Moree already have a three strikes policy which can result in households losing recycling bin, however Mayor Katrina Humphries said the contamination may also come at a cost of $2.5 million, as council are forced to construct more landfill cells.
"We desperately need the community to take ownership of this issue,” she said.
"That is a cost that I am just not comfortable with, so I urge all residents with a waste service to think before you throw."
Mr Murphy urged the same, directing people to the instructions on the lid of the yellow bins to find out what is recyclable.
