Recycling ... fortnightly pick up in this heat!

lynnemcf

Redcar council have overstepped the mark regarding recycling. I have a white sack for bottles (which must be washed and have their tops removed), a green box for glass and cans (which must be washed) a blue PLASTIC bag for paper (no envelopes, no catalogues, the list of exclusions goes on and on) a green wheely bin for grass clippings and brown cardboard (cardboard must not have been in contact with food or be laminated) and a wheely bin for the stuff that isnt in the above four categories. As a thankyou for sorting out my rubbish, Redcar council now only collects my general rubbish once every two weeks. When I queried this with them, I was told to double wrap any food waste that I put into my bin.

My bin stinks. I have put it in the shadiest part of my garden, all food waste is double bagged, I scrub it out with bleach after each collection, but still it stinks. The day after the bin men had been I found a dead pigeon in my garden. That is now in my bin and it makes me feel sick to think it will be there for one more week.

Do I have any rights?

november

We've had fortnightly collections of the black bin for some time now.

We have a green bin for cardboard (no food touching etc like yours) and a green box collected at the same time (other week to black bin) for glass, paper, cans and newspapers etc.

I know there have been some of complaints round here but the only complaint I have is with other people's bins where they are overflowing as the rubbish seems to end up outside our gate for some strange reason.

We have managed (with a lot of squashing down) to get lids shut on the bins all the time and despite the horrible stuff in my black bin (clearing up after my dog) it doesn't smell unless you stick your nose right in it.

Sorry to sound unsympathetic if I do but I actually believe its a good idea. We need to recyle more and landfill less and this method does encourage recycling - you have to recyle to fit in with the collections. Some people (no personal reference intended) given a weekly collection wouldn't sort but would continue to put it all in the black bin. I was amazed at the sort of letters we had in our local paper from people who thought it was better to landfill than wash a few bottles out or who said I pay for my rubbish to be collected why should I wash out bottles etc etc.

I don't know why your bin stinks - have you checked the lid fits properly and its not faulty? As to rights not to have your bin collected fortnightly - I doubt you have any. All councils are arranging some sort of recycling encouragement and many councils now alternate bins collected weekly. They had to do something or get fined by the govnt (I believe) which would increase council tax which would have been equally unpopular.

bridiej

They've only just started this fornightly thing down here, in fact tomorrow is the first collection of landfill waste since new recyling system started and I agree, our bin stinks, in fact cant bring myself to lift the lid to put something it in without taking a big deep breath, it's disgusting!

I dont really see what difference it would make if they collected it weekly over the summer, after all we're still recycling what we can!

Xbigman

I put my black bin out a week early because it was swarming with flies, and the lid did shut properly. Meanwhile, now I have a composter the grean bin lies sad, lonely and empty.
Regards



X

IvanOpinion

lynnemcf wrote:

Do I have any rights?

Actually you do. You have the right to pay a massive fine from Europe within the next few years if you and rest of your neighbourhood do not do enough recycling and you will have the right to pay additional taxes to collect the bins more often.

It may not seem fair but waste management in the UK is a major major issue. We are producing far too much waste and there is nowhere to put it ... landfill is no longer a serious option (would you want a landfill at your back door? or maybe an incinerator?). EVERYBODY has to reduce the amount of waste they are generating (which can be difficult given the amount of useless wrapping everything seems to come in these days) ... and what is generated must be reused or recycled as much as possible.

Garden waste is generally the worst but you could get yourself a composter which would also accept some of the other household waste (potato peelings, food scraps, thin cardboard etc.). Alternatively consider taking the rotting stuff to the nearest 'dump' yourself on in between weeks!

Ivan

Turning_into_scrooge

bridiej wrote:

They've only just started this fornightly thing down here, in fact tomorrow is the first collection of landfill waste since new recyling system started and I agree, our bin stinks, in fact cant bring myself to lift the lid to put something it in without taking a big deep breath, it's disgusting!

I dont really see what difference it would make if they collected it weekly over the summer, after all we're still recycling what we can!

Get some bin powder, it'll make sure nothing is lurking in there thats about to come flying at you when you lift the lid up :cool: : lol as well as making it smell better :beer:

lynnemcf

Is there really a product called bin powder? Is it in the supermarket? Never heard of it.

Turning_into_scrooge

Try looking in the hardware store. I'm sure its called bin powder. It kills maggots and freshens things up. I have seen it in the supermarket but more often in a local hardware shop.

november

bridiej wrote:

I dont really see what difference it would make if they collected it weekly over the summer, after all we're still recycling what we can!

They are collecting weekly here, they are just alternating which bin is collected as there are now 2 to collect. If they collected 2 in one week that, presumably, would have additional cost.

Both my bins, green and black, are full come collection day.

I'll keep an eye out for some of that bin powder just in case

I'd also like a composter - its on my list somewhere near the end unfortunately after I've actually finished 'landscaping' my back garden

surfcat

get the composter now! then by the time you've finished landscaping you'll have lots of lovely compost for whatever you're going to put on the landscape! I think you can get reduced price composters thru your local council.

As far as the O.P. goes, I don't have much sympathy I'm afraid. While the change will be difficult to get used to at first it will make a big difference in the end.

november

surfcat wrote:

get the composter now! then by the time you've finished landscaping you'll have lots of lovely compost for whatever you're going to put on the landscape! I think you can get reduced price composters thru your local council.

Oh yes that would be logical

I am trying to turn a yard into a garden (previous owner slabbed over the whole thing :eek: ).

Thanks for the reminder about the council - I knew but had forgotton. Now all I have to do is remember is where I put the leaflet