Employee David Skeer said he watches contaminated material come through every week.

“I see it all the time - nappies, women’s used sanitary material but the main concern is the used needles,” Mr Skeer said.

In an effort to stop offensive contamination, a ‘three strikes and your out’ policy was introduced to Esperance in June 2006.

Under the Three Strikes policy, if a bin is found to contain offensive items such as food, nappies, garden rubbish, syringes or has a bad smell then a sticker is placed on the bin and it is not collected.

A letter is left in the offender’s mailbox and this is followed up with another letter mailed to the address notifying the householder that they have received a contamination strike.

Mr Skeer said since the introduction of the Three Strikes policy recycling has improved but there is still room for improvement.

Shire Recycling Promotions Officer Georgia Ryan said contamination is a serious problem, as it can become a health issue for workers.

“It’s important that everyone understands that their recycling is hand sorted by the team at Wylie Bay and we’d like to encourage everyone to recycle right,” Ms Ryan said.

Working the other way around Ms Ryan said large amounts of recycling are also being sent to the tip as landfill instead of being recycled.

However if you do the right thing your efforts will not go unnoticed.

Ms Ryan said a note would be left in the letterbox saying thank you and informing householders how well they have done as well as providing information about recycling.