Recycling what's the point?

Ms-Money-Penny

Haven't had a recycling collection since 17th December. They collected the black bag waste sunday 3rd January. All my neighbours had their black bags piled up high, i had one solitary black bag.

I recycle everything so i have nearly 20 bags of recycling including food waste. When they collected last week i wish i'd black bagged the recycling.

Yes i am aware of weather conditions but Royal Mail, couriers, Ikea are delivering. But as per usual the council grinds to a halt. They are too busy gritting roads not by me, clearing pavements again not by me.

So once this lot has been collected this month, next month who knows. I'll be going back to black bags, not bothering ever again.

By the way they are still collecting recycling but if bad weather hits then the Thursday collection gets put on the back burner till the following week. So some people in my area up to date with both collections ie the next street down.

iamana1ias

Ms-Money-Penny wrote: »

Haven't had a recycling collection since 17th December. They collected the black bag waste sunday 3rd January. All my neighbours had their black bags piled up high, i had one solitary black bag.

I recycle everything so i have nearly 20 bags of recycling including food waste. When they collected last week i wish i'd black bagged the recycling.

Yes i am aware of weather conditions but Royal Mail, couriers, Ikea are delivering. But as per usual the council grinds to a halt. They are too busy gritting roads not by me, clearing pavements again not by me.

If they are busy gritting roads then they haven't ground to a halt. The majority of councils have diverted all available staff for gritting, and that may include binmen who they would otherwise have to pay to stay home. :rolleyes:

Would you rather thousands of people risked their lives on ungritted major roads just so that you can have your rubbish collected?

Do you have a degree in selfishness?

Ms-Money-Penny wrote: »

So once this lot has been collected this month, next month who knows. I'll be going back to black bags, not bothering ever again.

By the way they are still collecting recycling but if bad weather hits then the Thursday collection gets put on the back burner till the following week. So some people in my area up to date with both collections ie the next street down.

So rather than be understanding, in your anger against your local council you'll take it out on the planet instead?

Major logic bypass!

Is there a reason you can't take your recycling to your nearest depot if it's bugging you so much? :rolleyes:

MollyMoo212

We had to take all our rubbish to the tip! A bit inconvenient but better than having it all piled up!

freakyogre

As the above poster has said, if it's causing that much of a problem for you, what's stopping you from taking it to a recycling centre yourself?

I live in a flat and as i'm on my own, don't create that much rubbish, but the bins outside are pretty much full. If it carries on and collections are cancelled for a longer period, i'll just take the rubbish myself (if possible).

I'm surprised you've managed to generate 20 bags of rubbish in just over 3 weeks...that seems a lot!

Money_maker

I had my last collection for recycling (cardboard, garden waste, compostable etc) on 7th December. Am not due my next one until 18th December. I posted about this last year, its not down to the snow but my council prioritising landfill collections over recycling.

4 landfill collections in 5 weeks is a bit OTT considering they usually collect every fortnight on this bin. My recycling dustbin is full, my 3 compost bins are just short of full and I am heartily fed up with dutifully recycling every piece of card/organic waste that crosses my threshold. I will be putting cardboard in my ordinary bin which is due for collection tomorrow - and only a quarter full (we are a family of 5 inc. baby).

Nick_C

Recycling - whats the point?

Environmental arguments aside, it costs about £90 a tonne to take waste to a landfill site and bury it. Alternatively, you can sell paper for £40 a tonne, aluminium cans for £700 a tonne, and get glass taken away free of charge. Its your money that the Council is spending, do you want them to get value for money or not?

I manage a refuse and recycling contract for a local authority. There are some areas (mainly hilly side roads) that we have been unable to collect from in the last week. We cannot force people to work in an unsafe conditions - we would be breaking the law and leaving the Council open to the risk of compensation claims. We are prioritising the most important collections.

It sounds as if your Council is prioritising the collection of refuse over recycling. This sounds right to me as refuse can attract vermin and can smell (although not in these freezing conditions!) It does sound like they should have done food waste before anything else though.

Sorry that you are being inconvenienced by having a few bags of clean cans, glass and newspaper hanging around outside while your black bags are taken away, but spare a thought for the men who get up at 4 in the morning, rain or shine (or snow) to be out on the streets at 6am collecting your rubbish.

I would urge you to continue to recycle, for economic if not environmental reasons.

Re the food waste. Personally, I don't waste much food, can't afford to, but small quantities could go down the loo (where it would end up anyway if you had eaten it!). If you have a garden, you could get a composter or a wormery - most Councils provide these at a subsidised price.

On the gritting, its a nightmare. Depending on where you live, it may not be your "local" Council that is responsible. Outside London, its the counties or the Highways Agency. In London, it can be TFL. Council's that had sensibly had plenty of grit (salt) in stock are now - on Central Government orders - having to give it to those that have run out.

Storck

If they are recycling everything then what might fit in a couple of bags will be spread out through a lot more. Plus all the waste from Christmas gifts, packaging etc from over the festive period. I bet a family of four could easily get 20 bags full in the last three weeks.

But totally agree about taking it down to the tip. The bin men & council will probably prioritise normal rubbish so that it doesn't rot and smell rather than the recycling.

Money_maker

Nick_C wrote: »

I would urge you to continue to recycle, for economic if not environmental reasons.

As a householder, I only recycle for environmental reasons - never economic.
How much money would it take to restore all the polar ice caps?

Pete*G_4

MollyMoo212 wrote: »

We had to take all our rubbish to the tip! A bit inconvenient but better than having it all piled up!

freakyogre wrote: »

As the above poster has said, if it's causing that much of a problem for you, what's stopping you from taking it to a recycling centre yourself?

without getting involved in the whole "to recycle, or not to recycle" debate, in Ms-M-P's defence she has given a perfectly valid reason for not going to the tip with her rubbish...

Ms-Money-Penny wrote: »

Yes i am aware of weather conditions but Royal Mail, couriers, Ikea are delivering. But as per usual the council grinds to a halt. They are too busy gritting roads not by me, clearing pavements again not by me.

With all and sundry giving out warnings to make essential journeys only, why should the OP risk their wellbeing by making a journey in bad weather, on the off chance that the council won't do what they are paid council tax to do? Especially as the council haven't gritted the local area...

Nick_C

Money_maker wrote: »

As a householder, I only recycle for environmental reasons - never economic.
How much money would it take to restore all the polar ice caps?

Not everyone is convinced by the Environmental arguments - Environmentalism is a Religion, not a Science! But whatever your views on the environment, there's no excuse for paying to burn or bury old paper instead of selling it!

Mankysteve

Are you not already on Bi weekly bin collection? If not I suspect that you will be very soon as most concil are going that way those that don't recycle will be forced too otherwise they'll have to be making trips to the tip to get rid of their rubbish.