A council has told its residents not to separate their recyclables from general waste, prompting criticism as environmental concerns grow.

       Suffolk City Council reportedly left locals feeling "let down" when it told them to chuck their recycling in general waste skips at Ipswich centres on Foxhall Road and Portman's Walk.

       The authority, which has pledged to become carbon-neutral by 2030, said: “We can reassure users that on the very rare occasions recycling material goes into non-recyclable waste, this is not sent to landfill.”

       Previously, individuals were asked to separate plastic and wood in their respective skips.

       Having declared a "climate emergency" just five years ago, the council has faced criticism from confused and upset locals.

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       “Everyone is going on about recycling to make sure future generations have a world to live in, but then we are just chucking it all away in landfill or burning it", Terry Goldsmith, 74, told the BBC.

       “Years ago the waste centre was going to move to a bigger and better place but that didn’t materialise. If it was bigger they could have more skips. It’s far too small.”

       Another resident of the area, Katrina Hudson, 46, who thought the council's decision was "crazy" and made her "a bit mad", added: “We live in nature, it doesn’t live in us, and I think we need to look after the planet we are living on. If we are going to chuck it into landfill we are going to kill the planet."

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       Since the backlash, the council has apologised for their residents' experiences.

       “We’re sorry that Terry and Katrina’s experiences didn’t meet their expectations, and we are investigating what happened when they visited', a spokesman said. “However, our 11 recycling centres are operating successfully, with over 6,000 tonnes of material going through them in May alone, about 70 per cent of which was recycling, wood, and compost.

       “We have had over 900,000 visits to our centres in the last year, with a recent survey showing that 97 per cent of people were satisfied or very satisfied with the overall service.”

       The council assured that recycling material tossed with general waste does not end up in landfills, adding: “If it cannot be reused, it goes to our Energy from Waste facility in Great Blakenham, where it will be used as fuel to generate electricity.”