Recycling and bins

[Midwest]

For years now I've been a really good boy, and recycled my waste as required by my local council.

We had small black bins for, glass bottles/jars, hard plastics, fly away plastics (crisp packets etc), paper/cardboard, tin cans etc. These were collected every week, along with a small food waste bin and alternating weekly general rubbish or garden waste wheelie bins. The largest waste product has been the fly away plastic, and it wasn't just crisp packets; everything seems to come in thin plastic now. At least it was getting recycled.

I'm not a nosey neighbour , but I've been observing the waste collection operatives recently, and they've been chucking my well sorted recycling into the one truck, apart from the glass

Now my council, has delivered a new recycling wheelie bin, which everything except glass goes in. AND they are only collecting recycling fortnightly AND discontinued collecting fly away plastic. That goes in general rubbish, which is also fortnightly, and goes to landfill. This fly away plastic will be the end of us

Mind you, I can see some of those waste collection operatives, getting bad backs if they are only collecting glass fortnightly.

If I take my overflow recycling to the local council recycling centre, like glass bottles for example, I have to pay a fee. It's enough to turn you into a Teetotaller.

What's your rubbish like?

 

[Pete999]

Rubbish Mate absolute Rubbish

 

[Strima]

All our bins are fortnightly, the garden and food waste stink a bit in summer...

All are wheelie bins and recycling they take pretty much everything including glass, metal, plastics, packing materials etc.

I rarely need to go to the tip now except for bigger items that won't fit in the bin and again pour tip will take anything.

Except for copper and batteries, they go to a special place...

 

[Midwest]

At least our food waste is done weekly, but you have to pay £30 a year extra for garden waste. Pee's me off they are not going to recycle plastic, cling film, crisp packets etc.

Edit; they are going to start recycling textiles & shoes, obviously going to start competing with the charity etc organisations for that!

 

[Gavin John Hyde]

you think that is bad, in Bath where I now live again, the council have spent tens if not hundreds of thousands of pounds giving everybody big black wheelie bins, which will be collected fortnightly. the residents do not want them and they are too small.. some people are allowed gull proof bags instead but you are going to end up with rows of bins ruining the Georgian views for the councils beloved tourists, so expect fines for putting bins out too early... if they are kept indoors they are going to stink but council are also giving you tiny food waste bins, i have seen bigger lunchboxes!! I think for most houses in Bath now there are several bins per household, normal, food, and weekly recyclable bin. its great though as give it 6 months all them little bins will be used for storage in the shed/garage.

I am okay as i live in an apartment building and we have a communal bin store with huge euro bins... anything and everything goes in from waste to old appliances... residents have had enough of council treating them like fools...

anyway rant over ...

 

[Midwest]

Where I live the town centre has rows & rows of very old terraced properties, no car parking space let alone frontage for wheelie bins. They are offering some options, but I can imagine its a right pain.

I recall as a child at my parents house, we had one 'dusty bin' which was collected weekly. It was never overflowing, didn't have any glass bottles in it and very few tins. How we've evolved.

 

[westward10]

A few years back I complained nicely, that the refuse collectors when they drop a tin or bottle from the recycle boxes just left it in the road. I was told this would be addressed but the following weeks the same ensued and I complained again and told them I can understand some bits get dropped that is life but it is all around the village and if it continues I will collect it all up and dump it in their office reception lobby. Continue it did, collected it all up I did, deposited it in their office lobby, I bloody well did

 

[westward10]

Did something similar when I lived down in London. My neighbour had his house up for sale and the agent put up a post and board, no problem with that. House sold, post and board fell down across my garden so ring agent where some smarmy suit said he would have it removed by the end of the week, ten days later still there so I ring smarmy suit back who is now none to helpful, no problem I say I can sort it. In the back of the van it goes, I wait outside until the estate agent has a few customers and I take in and dump it on their office floor, they were all speechless.

 

[Octopus]

We have a big blue bin for recycling which takes all household recycling except tetra packs. We pay a small some for a green bin - which comes in mighty handy for getting rid of grass cuttings and hedge trimmings!

 

[KEV 1 N]

Durham County Council are quite efficient (at emptying bins at least!) we have a weekly collection alternating between rubbish and recycling, glass in seperate box. No problems, bins are rarely full each week, I recycle most of our waste. Although the neighbors recycle bin has never put out in the 10 years I've lived here!
Pity the household waste facility (Tip) has been took over by an outside contractor, it's now queuing for 30mins then chaos once your in!

 

[Marvo]

.......the garden and food waste stink a bit in summer...

... if they are kept indoors they are going to stink but council are also giving you tiny food waste bins.........

Don't you guys have waste disposal units in the UK?

It's like the Wild West here we just have one big black wheelie bin for everything. If you want to recycle plastics, metals and glass it's optional but you can put it out on bin day in a separate clear dustbin bag and there's a recycle truck comes around and picks it up. We never put food waste in our bin, it attracts rats, snakes, ants, porcupines, stray dogs and baboons (not necessarily in that order).

 

[buzzlightyear]

what a load of trash !

 

[Richard Burns]

Our council used to use a good recycling company that were then taken over and now our waste for recycling goes through an MRF so we have one bin that takes glass, plastic (tubs, bottles and film), foil, tins, aerosols and cardboard with a separate container for office and junk paper, another bin for green waste, raw and cooked food waste (sent to composting), a third bin for non recyclable waste that may still go to an automated facility for sorting out the recyclable material (but the part of it that composted for filler material broke down) and send the residue to landfill.
Generally a good system and gets very high recycling rates but many people do not recycle or contaminate the recyclable material (which is annoying to me).

 

[static zap]

Just changing ,Cov--weeky food waste alternating general / glass+plastic
.Brum strangly bin bags everywhere ,
but lower poll-tax !

 

[Paul.M]

Two bins, one black for landfill and the other is green for recycle. Collected every 2 weeks in turn but they do not accept glass???? I'm not that old but.... When I was a kid we recycled milk bottles (delivered to your door step like what the supermarkets do now but for a cost) and also pop bottles. You took them back to the shop and got 10p back!!! (1980's)

Brown bins, we have a small front and back garden but they are not big enough to warrent a brown bin. After weeding or doing any work in our small gardens, we have to ask the neighbors (with a much bigger back garden) if we can put out rubbish in their bins!

As for plastic bags and getting charged 5p each to "save the landfill". Please.... Have a look at all the plastic you are buying at the checkout and putting into your "dolphin friendly bag"... Regardless if it is a pullet of fruit, a basket of mushrooms or a tray of beef, please take time to look at the grading of the tray and see if it is recyclable?

next rant... Going to the tip. Because I drive a van I need to apply to the local council for a permit to make sure I am not dumping off trade waste. It's a ball ache and you get interrogated by 2-3 blokes in hi-viz soon as you drive in. I've had less hassle smuggling in refugees from Greece than what the local council dump men do! (joking..... it was France )