A woman who left six cigarette ends in her silver bin is furious because binmen refused to take it away.
Christine King, of First Avenue, Grantham, says she put the ends into her recycling bin while in a rush to get to work.
When binmen came to collect on Friday one man looked inside the bin and refused to take it away saying the rubbish was contaminated.
Mrs King said: “He said he would not take my bin away because there were six cigarette ends at the top of my bin. I thought they were not allowed to do that anymore. They are just jobsworths.
“If you are in a rush to go to work then you just do whatever. I have never known anything like it.
“I cannot believe that a few cigarette ends in my rubbish would cause all this.”
SKDC’s interim head of environmental services, Mike Butler said: “Whilst a few cigarette butts may seem small in the scheme of things, they are enough to contaminate a whole lorry load of recycling which is why we have no choice but to refuse to collect in these circumstances.
“We will be, over the next few weeks, relaunching the recycling programme, to include new products, advising residents of the recyclables we would like to be placed in the silver bins. We are very pleased with commitment shown by so many of our residents in helping the council recycle and reduce the cost of landfill in both financial and environmental terms.
“The reality is that one contaminated bin could mean the difference between a lorry load of waste being re-used and recycled or being sent to landfill which is bad for the environment and costly to the tax payer. Our message to our residents is that if you are in any doubt about whether or not something can be recycled check our website at www.southkesteven.gov.uk/recyclinglist or simply put it in your black general waste bin or pink bags.”