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Council recycling policy could be better

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I'm trying to work out what exactly it is I get for my council tax, particularly when it comes to recycling and rubbish disposal.  As far as I can see I'm not exactly getting value for money.  Yes I know that our council tax pays for lots of things besides the bin men, but I feel that its an area that isn't particularly well serviced... at least where I live.

Like many households these days we sort out our rubbish and recycle what we can, only the stuff that can't be recycled actually goes in the trash.  We also use a composter for all the organic waste so at the end of the day there isn't really much goes out in the main wheelie bin.

As far as the recycling goes, Nuneaton and Bedworth council aren't all that great.  For example, at the time of writing, they don't collect any cardboard or plastic and if you take a look at the vast majority of stuff you buy, guess what?  It's largely cardboard and plastic.  We used to be covered by Cherwell council and they did collect cardboard and plastic, but they didn't collect glass.  Nuneaton and Bedworth do collect glass which is a good thing, but there again it's probably only a small percentage of the average household's waste.

Recycling, councils should sort it out and all take the same stuff The result of this is that once a month we take a trip to the nearest recycling centre to offload our cardboard and plastic and once a month the wheelie bin goes out.

... better if the same recycling policy was applied nationally

Why can't our local councils just get their act together when it comes to recycling and take the lot?  It would also be better if the same recycling policy was applied nationally.  We are more than happy to sort through everthing and make sure the plastic, glass, cardboard, paper and cans etc. are all seperated before collection.


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Boblet

Boblet

Who paid for the fancy bins scabies? the only thing we know for certain you fool is that it wasn't Portugul
02/08/11 Boblet
3
Scabies

Scabies

Recycling in our holiday village in Portugal is a dream compared to what the London Borough of Camden does here.

Just outside our block 50 metres down the street, are a comprehensive set of colour code bins, of huge capacity, sealed to keep the smells in. The ridiculous practice of the recycling of food waste is not attempted. Recycling is easy-peasy.

Here the LB of Camden provide the wrong kind of bins to households, do not have easily reachable collective waste bins. Where they have collection points, the bins are not easy to use, complex to decide what goes in which bin.

UK is disgustingly hopeless at recycling

UK local government should be closed down as completely and greedily incompetent.

Our annual council tax rate there is 480 euros per year, here it is over £1500.
02/08/11 Scabies
8
Annonymous64

Annonymous64

@Bin Counter: Well if you like how recycling is in Portugal and Spain so much, why don't you go and live in one of them countries instead of complaining about it here??
02/08/11 Annonymous64
-9
DSG

DSG

And yet we still religiously separate our carboard from our glass to"help the environment". B*ll*cks! Everyone knows it's another con to milk more money out of taxpayers if they don't separate their rubbish.
17/12/10 DSG
-9
Bertram Millipede

Bertram Millipede

I was passing a garden this morning and there was this big bin type thing. It had a sign on it saying "compost:help yourself". What doe"s that mean though? do they want you to take some away or add something to it?
21/03/10 Bertram Millipede
-7
bunt

bunt

Hi, I think it is so so stupid to put bottles and rubbish in different bins I have just had to stand out in the stinking cold all just to put bottles and cans in a different bin what's the point? why cant you just keep it the way it was before you did not have a problem with the way it all worked for all them years so why change now your all just weird and thanks for freezing me.
06/12/09 bunt
-8
Choizo n'chips

Choizo n'chips

The government should have seen the writing after the war. Supermarkets getting off the ground.
They didn't think of the waste packaging then did they,? no, only profits !
. I do try and recycle . Once a fortnight I trudge all the bags, cans and whatever , etc to the street. One week I thought I'd put all my cardboard in a " cardboard box" to make life easier, but no, they left it,.... as it should have been stacked in a pile where the wind could have blown it across the road ! Who would pick it up then, ? the dustmen ? no, ...not me either. it can stay there till it rots !.
Now, if it takes my fancy to chuck all in the rubbish I do it, maybe I'll re-cycle if I'm in the mood to do it.

I just don't care now.Blow the councils, their silly people with fantastic ideas and all their stupid rules.
30/06/09 Choizo n'chips
-8
DrWho?

DrWho?

Why should you want to do this service for free? Has the Council ordered you to do this? Then they must expect you to invoice them for providing a service. If the Council arranged to collect all your waste and sort it themselves, you wouldn't have to charge them, would you? However, Council would complain that it costs them too much to sort. Ergo, why should your services be free?
28/11/08 DrWho?
-9
Tony

Tony

I don't think anyone has a clue what's going on. The council certainly don't know. If you call their office number you get redirected through to 'Monkey World' chimp sanctuary in Dorset.

Plastic is not for recycling in my area, even if it does display the logo. This is to be paced in the black bin with all non recyclable rubbish.

We haven't recycled plastic in this area for nearly 18 months. As for the council finding any solution, the words arze and both hands automatically springs to mind.
08/07/08 Tony
-2
litter bug

litter bug

I live in the same town as the gentleman who was recently all over the news because he was fined for having his bin too full. Along with our bins (brown for garden waste and black for rubbish) we have a black box for cans paper and glass jars/bottles. One of my children accidently placed a plastic bottle on top of the already full black box. (This plastic bottle was washed out and I do have a seperate bag for these.) But yet the bin men refused to empty it as it was contaminated!!? As all our bins are collected fortnightly I had to remove the item and wait a fortnight for it to be emptied. Unfortunately this happens all too often. Council Tax what a load of rubbish!
07/07/08 litter bug
-14
Grovis

Grovis

Hi. We do not even get a wheelie bin here (East Cambridgeshire District Council) everybody leaves their bags of rubbish on the street for collection. If your lucky you get black bin bag every now and then lobbed into your garden. All of my recycling is done down at Tesco although I do believe there is the facility to have recycling taken away. It has been badly communicated so nobody really knows what is going on.
20/04/08 Grovis
-11
petralava

petralava

I really can't believe the amount of different schemes national councils employ! It's ridiculous.
Then they have the audacity to fine Joe Public, for not understanding what goes where and when.
Some poor saps have 5 different bins/boxes for all their rubbish/recycling.
Most elderly people, just haven't got a clue what to do, what goes where, how often and when.
Why can't they just have two bins nationally?
One for ALL rubbish that can be recycled. One for household waste (peelings/food/etc) for composting - and a bi weekly black bag collection, for the miniscule amount of rubbish that doesn't fit into either of the above (e.g.dog poop, cigarette ends)
Easy.
19/04/08 petralava
-3
khainestar

khainestar

I was informed once by a binman that because I don't put my green wheelie bin out on the kerb I can get fined. Really? Well let me have one then! I don't have a green wheelie bin so I don't have one to put out. The local council have informed me that one was delivered to my house less than 3 years ago. When I didn't live there. So if I want another one I have to pay for it. As it is I throw out less than half a bag of rubbish a week. yet I am being threatened with additional charges. As I see it they owe me for not having anything to take away.
17/04/08 khainestar
-1
old grouch

old grouch

Recycling is a rip off. We pay council tax to deal with our waste (which includes recycling) then are compelled to sort through it ourselves. This is like Paying a mechanic to fix your car then fix it yourself ! As taxes increase and more & more services generate a surcharge, most of us will be better off becoming unemployed, sit at home and watch Jeremy Kyle all day - knowing someone else is picking up the bill
13/04/08 old grouch
3
blacklion

blacklion

I live in the Lewisham borough and the facilities are not bad.
The council have sadly decided that they won't supply garden waste bins but they do supply the green plastic wheely bins for your recycling.
This bin will accept all types of recycling; cans, bottles, plastic, cardboard etc etc which is very handy as you don't have to sort it in any way, save sorting out the recycling from the non.
However, as with all good schemes there is always a downside - I recently moved to a new house in the borough which had 2 large non recycling bins and no recycling bin, hence my immediate call to the council to remove one of the bins and replace it with a green one, only to be told: "yeah well.... we might be able to get you one in a few weeks or so" - so much for the government directive, I'm still waiting.
03/04/08 blacklion
-5

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