wheelie bin dilemma

smcaul

We have had the alternate bin collection going since December, it is a horrid, filthy and unhygienic way to carry on. I had it admitted to me by a senior member of the council that it was mainly implemented for financial reasons. We have had maggots on the wall the bin is up against, this is even though the lid was down and the bin was not overfilled. We compost yet still fill the bin, our recycling bin is always full yet they wont take tetrapak or glass!!!! so I make sure I fill it with tetrapaks and glass, if they force us to do things then I will recepricate. I have first hand knowledge of the waste industry as I have previously worked as a waste regulation officer, and I know full well that most of what the councils spout is total BS. I have also worked as a HGV driver and been to many recycling site to load containers with paper etc for shipping to china and the far east for "recycling" - yeah right, we all know it gets landfilled over there. The whole ABC system is just a way for the council/government to impose more "green" taxes!!

peter_the_piper

We've had the new system for 6 weeks now and its working perfectly, fortnightly collection of rubbish and alternate weekly collection of paper in one box and tin/plastic in the other, any maggots tipped out so the birds have a field day.

moogiegirl

We have our bins emptied every other week and it is horrible. There are 5 of us and our recycling bin is full up within a week. What annoys me is that if our recycling bin is full the dustbin men won't take anymore. Our normal rubbish bin then ends up getting full up with items that could be recycled. I have no car and live in the middle of nowhere so can't get the items to a recycling centre

melancholly

i think a major aspect of keeping waste down is to do with packaging and buying things that aren't in 5 layers of plastic. in my house, 5 people barely fill one wheely bin a fortnight because we recycle and compost (although we don't compost meat - obviously - or citrus fruit). we get recycling collected once a month - but we have 2 bins (1 glass and 1 paper) and a plastic bag for tins.

for the composting, we have an old ice cream tub in the kitchen that gets emptied when it gets full. it's not always pleasant, and the flies are nasty in the middle of the day, but it's not terrible.

i think the new system will require people changing their behaviour - and that may be difficult to start with. we only went for the recycling thing a year ago and our waste went down so much. the composting was the real difference. i guess only buying what you need so that there isn't excess waste and avoiding heavy packaging are the way forward - but that will only work for people who want to change the way they do things. i don't think forcing this system on them is going to work!

deanos

I think the government needs to start at the root cause and thats manafactuers , i mean buying fruit and veg in trays and then wrapped in sellophane whats wrong with them being loose and put in a paper bag ?

Putting a tax on junk mail would be a good idea as well

dangeroussports

I think a better solution would be to given allotments and to grow our own fruit and veg and we had to hunt and cook our own main meal every day.

Gorgeous_George

We have a black box for recyclables such as glass bottles, paper, cans, car batteries and textiles - emptied every week.

We have a food bin for cooked food including chicken bones etc., - emptied every week. Special bags can be purchased and we line the bin with newspapers (free ones because we do not bu newspapers).

The main wheelie bin is emtied fortnightly but, to be honest, I don't always bother putting it out because it hardly has anything in it.

Plastic bottles and cardboard are not taken away. I keep these in a the garage until I have a sack of each and then drop them off at the local recycling centre. Often I walk to the centre.

Garden waste goes in the two black composters that I bought. It rots down really quickly and, if a little comonsense is used, rats are not a problem - they taste just like chicken and can be disposed of in the food bin.








Only joking (about the rats).



GG

Elliesmum

deanos wrote: »

I think the government needs to start at the root cause and thats manafactuers , i mean buying fruit and veg in trays and then wrapped in sellophane whats wrong with them being loose and put in a paper bag ?

Putting a tax on junk mail would be a good idea as well

:T Good point

EM xx

advent1122

novelli wrote: »

I have actually spent the last 6 months in India teaching in the slums(voluntarily

.....I bet you mention that at your dinner parties to Guy and Felicity.

marleyboy

I can remember when recycling was encouraged, not enforced, I remember as a kid getting paid 10p, for every empty pop bottle i took back to the shop, when milkmen collected the empty milk bottles, when we would collect as many cans as possible to weigh in for a few pence, your shopping at the local grocers would be handed over in a paper bag, or a box. now the countries spent all these years producing everything it sells, in plastic, from plastic milk bottles to carrier bags, all in the name of cost reduction, thats the main reason this country and many others are struggling with recycling, its virtually ALL non bio degradable. Even a simple little polystyrene cup, takes over 50years to degrade. Nowadays, you have to pay to recycle, from alluminium to glass, the old methods always worked, we never had such problems as we do now. So to blame folk, for buying stuff in the wrong packaging, i.e. Milk, simply because selling it in a plastic bottle is cheaper to mass produce, or that it is somehow their fault for having too much rubbish, is ridiculous. I and the general public never once said "can you put my milk in a plastic bottle please, so it doesnt smash.". No, in the age of cost reduction, people are forced into having no other option. For example, I would gladly buy a TV not in a box, with loads of polystirene packaging, assuming it will be cheaper outside of a box. But what choice do I have?

Public are punished for the mess the businesses create in racking up their profits, governments are quick to blame the public for the unrecyclable mess, but in reality, over the years, they and their greedy little companies, have created it!