Black Bin and Recycling Collection

ST1991

This feels like a stupid question, but something i want to ask. We've only ever lived in a flat before with large communal bins that were put out for us and no recycling facilities.

I leave earliest in the morning, so after i left my husband heard the bin collection vehicle on our road whilst getting ready, and overheard them laughing outside our house.
When he went out, they had taken our neighbors on each side (and opposite) bins, but not ours.
We had put out our black bin, cardboard recycling and green bin, and they hadn't taken any of them.
There was one additional bin bag in a thick black bin bag at the side of our black bin as we had a massive clear out on the weekend so there was more than usual. I have seen other houses around us do this on other occasions seemingly without issue.

I left the house 30 mins before my husband and all was fine/they hadn't been yet. When he left for work and discovered the bins weren't taken, this black bag had been ripped open and rubbish strewn all over the pavement.

Sometime in the time between me leaving and him coming out either a fox has come (unlikely at 7.30am?), someone has come along and kicked it for fun or the bin men have done something or picked it up and ripped it and left it.
It was a thick/rubble sack type of bag filled with light rubbish so wouldn't have been easy to rip.

So i guess my question is: If you have left an additional bin bag alongside your black bin should this be taken?
If not, would you assume that they would not take any of the other items either?
Have i offended our bin men somehow by putting out an extra bag, so much so that they decided not to take any of our other bins either?
Even if somehow the bag was ripped before they got there, should they have still taken the rest of the bins?

I guess realistically i want to check on other peoples experience to make sure we haven't committed some kind of bin crime (lol) but mostly to make sure it doesn't happen again.
We will have to take a trip to the tip now this weekend as cannot leave the bins full for another 2 weeks. FYI Husband has cleared the rubbish outside our house this morning, we couldn't have left it how it was!

d0nkeyk0ng

I've seen binmen take a look inside the bins before picking them up (this is when I'm home, getting ready for work and looking out the window). If they don't like what they see (usually applies to recycling bins) they won't take the recycling bin away but will leave a message attached to the bin.

Never had problems with general waste not being taken away but I have heard stories where a bin lid was slightly raised (ie deemed "overfull") and therefore not taken away. I've also heard about binmen not taking bins away if they're facing the wrong way.

Not sure about where you live but where I am, there are two lorries collecting. One does recycled waste, the other general waste. They often come at separate times of the day (on one occasion they were eight hours apart. Normally I see them up to two hours apart), so one bin will be empty before the other is.

If neither bin has been emptied by the end of the day, IMO there's something amiss. I'd think about calling council services as I pay council tax.

ST1991

d0nkeyk0ng wrote: »

If neither bin has been emptied by the end of the day, IMO there's something amiss. I'd think about calling council services as I pay council tax.

Thank-you for your quick reply. This is what i thought too... we'll see what has happened by the time i get home.

Sometimes they don't take our green bin which we pay extra for, which is a bit of a nuisance but it's never full enough to become an issue. However not taking our black bin or cardboard bins is much more of an issue.
Makes me wonder if they had recurrent issues with the tenants who lived here before we purchased... The house was a mess when we moved in and the bins were left overflowing on move-in day...!

Mojisola

ST1991 wrote: »

I guess realistically i want to check on other peoples experience to make sure we haven't committed some kind of bin crime (lol) but mostly to make sure it doesn't happen again.

Your council should have information on their website about when your collection is (ours are alternative weeks for household rubbish and recycling), what to put in the different bins and bags and reasons why your rubbish might not be collected.

ST1991

Mojisola wrote: »

Your council should have information on their website about when your collection is (ours are alternative weeks for household rubbish and recycling), what to put in the different bins and bags and reasons why your rubbish might not be collected.

We have alternating rubbish collections each week as well, and the correct bins are out. We moved in July 2016 so have been doing it right since then. They usually come and take it all at the same time, as they had done that for our neighbors who put out the same as us (black bin, green bin and cardboard) this morning just not us.
Wouldn't have thought one extra household bag of rubbish (alongside the black bin so it isn't wedged open) would cause them not to collect any of it.
I wonder if the black back ripped open with rubbish strewn on the path has caused them not to touch any of it, but this was not done by us, nor was it like it before they came this morning...

wantonnoodle

Around ours, the council (Trafford) are clamping down heavily on what goes in the bins at the moment.

They've always been picky about overfull bins, or extra bags - they will refuse to take the general waste bin if its overfull or an extra bag has been left. And our general waste bin is smaller than all our other bins.

However, we received a leaflet with our council tax bill. Not only are they going to begin charging for emptying of garden waste bins, but they are also going to start checking that what is put in our general waste bins, and if something recyclable has been put in there, they will refuse to empty it until the offending item(s) have been removed and put in the correct bin. We personally don't have any issue with this, as we are pretty good at sorting things out, but I can see there being a lot of complaints and bad feeling about binmen getting overly picky.

Doozergirl

Phone the council! If ours miss a collection you can phone and they will come back out and collect it.

They do have rules but they are individual to each council. In theory, ours will not take additional bags and will not take the bin if the rubbish is poking out of the top and the lid isn't subsequently flat. In reality, I think they know who the serial offenders are, and they treat everyone with a bit leniency, especially at Christmas. Ours are very sweet and will pull my bin off the drive if I've forgotten.

stator

Phone the council.

ST1991

Thanks everyone.

Before i called them i wanted to make sure i hadn't committed a cardinal sin by putting an extra bag out, or not realized there was an unspoken rule that if a bag is broken then somehow the rest of the rubbish and recycling cannot be taken away...
My husband is under the impression that they have broken the additional bag themselves, got rubbish all over the path, then moved on without collecting any of it out of spite or something. I'm sure that isn't the case but we'll never know.

I will wait until i get home from work (they never usually come that earlier, so i wouldn't have normally known until i get back) and if the bins/bags are still full I will call the council.

stator

Our council say they won't take any waste left next to a bin, but they should still take the bin.
They also say they won't take a bin if the lid isn't shut. But my council isn't your council.

mysterymurdoch

I'd just call them. The bin should have still been taken and it's possibly just binmen mucking about. They need to make their day more interesting somehow! (I've done it for two summers),