GONZALES — Surveillance video caught one man by surprise when he saw his recycling bin dumped into the garbage truck. The situation is especially annoying because he pays extra for recycling. 

Don Berrigan lives in Royal Palms in Gonzales and has been a Waste Pro customer for about five years. He recycles and has for his entire life.

"I thought it was the socially responsible thing to do," he said.

Imagine his surprise when he watched his home security footage and saw something that didn't add up. This week, he remembers hearing only one truck roll through, but both of his bins were empty. The footage showed his recycling bin was dumped into the trash bin, then emptied into the rear of the garbage truck.

"If he's doing it to me, how many other people are getting this?" Berrigan said.

Turns out, he's heard from neighbors and others in the Nextdoor chat who have been experiencing the same thing. Berrigan pays extra for recycling; it's $24 a month or $288 a year. 

"I've been ripped off," Berrigan said.

As soon as Berrigan watched the video, he canceled his recycling service. A neighbor of Berrigan also shared their surveillance footage with WBRZ. That video shows the recycling bin and garbage bin going into the same truck. This particular neighbor has tracked it for several years, dating back to 2022. That neighbor had made Waste Pro aware of the issue on several occasions. They have also canceled their recycling service.

"That's fine, you don't have to recycle, just don't charge me for it!" Berrigan said.

It's left him feeling aggravated and frustrated over a service he's not receiving. Now he's hoping to recover some of those lost funds.

Waste Pro was provided the video shown in this report. The company provided a non-committal answer, saying there could be various reasons that the recycling was combined with the trash and they would investigate.

We appreciate you bringing this concern to our attention. Recycling is an important service, and we are committed to ensuring it is handled properly. If this was a contamination issue, the recycling bin should have been tagged to notify the customer. If recycling tagging procedures were not followed, we will address it through coaching and additional training. We are reinforcing recycling collection procedures with our employees, including proper cart tagging, and providing additional training to strengthen compliance with our established procedures.

Ascension Parish offers free recycling to its residents Monday-Thursday at 42077 Church Point Road in Gonzales and 2171 D. Thibaut Drive in Donaldsonville. The centers do not accept glass.