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Our council has decided to change their waste removal and recycling policy, in particular how frequently they empty the bins. We are now all recycling and having our bins (recyclable and regular waste) removed only every other week. The waste bin stinks now that it is only collected on alternate weeks, it's actually quite disgusting.
The recycling part is fine except for one thing, the council does not provide door to door plastic recycling. We therefore have to take plastic to the recycling plant ourselves or place it in the regular waste bin. I think that the council has completely the wrong idea here. If they want us to take part and embrace recycling, then it should be an all or nothing at all policy. Plastic waste now makes up a large portion of household waste and I just don't have the time to take it two miles to the nearest recycling plant.
Bigger waste bins and recycling for plastic
I think they should provide bigger waste bins and recycling for plastic to encourage people to play their part in being environmentally conscious. I am actually considering leaving my plastic and food waste that won't fit in the bin on the steps of the council. Maybe then they will get the message!
It shouldn't be my job to play bin man when they don't provide us with adequate recycling and waste removal services. Isn't this what we pay our council tax for?
By: Tigi
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We only have fortnightly collections where I live. Today, I hurt my wrist trying to move my bin which was overflowing with extra rubbish put there by other people. If they dump all their stuff in other people's bins, couldn't they at least have the decency to move it for them. I am 73 and this is really upsetting me. My daughter is taking me to the doctor's for a sprained wrist this afternoon. Why do people treat other people's bins as a free-for-all?
02/08/13 AdaB
2
Hi Joe, I live in Fanny Street so we may be neighbours! I do like the market though on a Saturday.
23/07/13 Coming to the boil
8
I sympathise up to a point. We have 18 week old twin boys and not surprisingly, get through a lot of disposable nappies! We have quite a wide circle of friends and have always entertained a lot, with dinner-parties and what have you. Since the end of her confinement, my wife is keen Colin to get back to socialising, and to maintain a satisfactory ambience, we always sneakily dispose of the soiled nappies in our neighbours wheelie bin, (they are a lovely old couple, and probably wouldn't mind anyway), as the smell would ruin our soirees. We are always careful to double bag the packages so as not to encourage flying insect infestation.
20/07/13 Joe from Splott
4
I try my very best to recycle everything but unfortunately the family around the corner sneakily put dirty pampers nappies in my bin while I am at work. Nice neighbours, eh?
19/07/13 coming to boiling point.....
5
Hi, I noticed this gripe on a link from another.
What I would like to say is something I may have put on another of my comments but this gripe is where it belongs.
My local council seem to think that we who live in the 3 blocks of identical flats in my road are degenerates who don't care a stuff for their local environment (I'm referring in tidiness terms rather than eco but they are both important).
The upshot of this is that we only have your standard green rubbish bins with no separate bins for newspapers/magazines/paper/cardboard/plastic in one bin, then another for glass bottles and jars. That's 3 bins basically that those who live in the houses across from us have and yes, they're also rented from the council.
Another road, not far away on the same estate has the same blocks of flats built at the same time roughly 60s/early70s same rent and council tax amounts and yet they've a separate compound with all the different bins for residents including clinical waste.
Are we animals in my street or something?
I now walk to the nearest recycling centre as its not far for a single person who doesn't create much waste but most of us don't drive and there's families with young children among us.
13/07/13 ahforfoulkessake
What I would like to say is something I may have put on another of my comments but this gripe is where it belongs.
My local council seem to think that we who live in the 3 blocks of identical flats in my road are degenerates who don't care a stuff for their local environment (I'm referring in tidiness terms rather than eco but they are both important).
The upshot of this is that we only have your standard green rubbish bins with no separate bins for newspapers/magazines/paper/cardboard/plastic in one bin, then another for glass bottles and jars. That's 3 bins basically that those who live in the houses across from us have and yes, they're also rented from the council.
Another road, not far away on the same estate has the same blocks of flats built at the same time roughly 60s/early70s same rent and council tax amounts and yet they've a separate compound with all the different bins for residents including clinical waste.
Are we animals in my street or something?
I now walk to the nearest recycling centre as its not far for a single person who doesn't create much waste but most of us don't drive and there's families with young children among us.
-4
@Jo F "just come back from living in Australia and they recycle everything, it is so much better" Well maybe you should move back to Australia then if you like their recycling system so much, problem solved!
11/08/11 xml97
-4
I live in Oxford and they keep changing the rules for rubbish collection. We only get fortnightly collections now, which is awful, considering how high the caouncil tax is. They keep changing the days, and if you miss one collection, you can have rubbish hanging around for four weeks! In the height of summer that is a serious health risk. People are expected to have these ghastly gigantic plastic wheeled bins like silos that totally block up their alleys or side paths. As for those who live in terraced properties, there is just nowhere to put them. Until recently the garden rubbish used to be collected in sturdy sacks. I paid for some extra ones. Then suddenly the council decided to charge extra for garden rubbish collection, and demand that we all get a brown wheeled bin - for most people, the third!! So now gardens are completely jammed with THREE bloody wheeled bins, two recycling boxes (a green one and a blue one) and also a food-waste bucket. I've refused to have most of these as I would hardly have room to live here with all those bins.
The only legal alternative is to buy paper sacks - which are of course bad for the environment! The collection team actualy threw my old sacks into their van so they were all shredded for mulch.
17/07/11 Exasperated, Headington
The only legal alternative is to buy paper sacks - which are of course bad for the environment! The collection team actualy threw my old sacks into their van so they were all shredded for mulch.
6
I believe we should recycle,but this website didn't answer my question!
how does your council collect waste for recycling? pleasee someone Answer That!
08/02/11 Carley From Hertfordshire
how does your council collect waste for recycling? pleasee someone Answer That!
-12
Imho.
I believe its more environmentally friendly to unpack what I buy in the shop and leave the plastic for them to dispose of and then burn the rest of my packaging waste in a garden barbecue. The ashes are good for the garden and dont contribute to the masses of landfill waste we are having to live with
08/06/10 Korky
I believe its more environmentally friendly to unpack what I buy in the shop and leave the plastic for them to dispose of and then burn the rest of my packaging waste in a garden barbecue. The ashes are good for the garden and dont contribute to the masses of landfill waste we are having to live with
6
Do yo know that most of the waste you put into your recycle bins still ends up in a land fill ?
The council can't cope with the response they they have had with the recycling program.
09/11/09 Green Blue or Black
The council can't cope with the response they they have had with the recycling program.
12
Maybe the people who have the problem with 2- weekly collections are the ones who throw away a third of the food they buy?
08/05/08 grumpyoldwoman
-37
I've recently been collecting my compostable kitchen waste in a seperate waste bin in my kitchen, in a compostable corn based "plastic" bag that itself is compostable. The council have refused to accept my entire wheelie bin load on principle it is contaminated waste. Whilst I accept that it's unfair to expect on of the refuse collection people to decide on what is or not compostable, I did object to the threatening letter I received from the council several days later stating that I could be fined up to £2000, but on that occassion "no further action would be taken".
11/01/08 Bagpuss
19
We have had fortnightly collections for 2 years and it does seem to work, along with weekly recycling. Although if you are on holiday you have to get someone to put the wheelie bin out for you. You can fit quite alot in a wheelie bin. Maybe it cheating but we have an little incinorator to get rid of carboard. I'm saving lots up for nov 5th!
18/10/07 jules
-6
I absolutely agree, I think it terrible that you cannot recycle your plastic along with all your other recycling. If they have to sort the paper from the foil and from the glass why can't they sort the plastic also. We have just come back from living in Australia and they recycle everything, it is so much better, I was shocked when we got back to find that your plastic goes in with the ordinary household rubbish. What idiot decided that one!!!
12/09/07 Jo F
1
ahforfoulkessake
I would like to post again here as I've just started work for the council as a bin man so I'm seeing the other side.
Our depot doesn't do glass unfortunately, no idea why.
I get a little fed up with people mixing up all their recycling when they have the correct boxes to put it in ie 1 for plastic and cans the other for paper and newspapers and cardboard.
Our truck has two separate hoppers to crush recycling hence the reason you're given those two different boxes. If you're smart enough to own a house and keep a job to pay the mortgage I take it you can read the words on the boxes and sort your stuff accordingly.
It just means that we take additional time sorting it while on the round and it take longer to complete.