Slightly OT - Wheely bin compactors

[Tim W]

Ah - the joys of crap councils...

Having been used to a council that takes anything papery and cardboardy in the paper bin (even food wrappings), anything plasticky (even food wraps) in the plastic bin (+ cans) and food waste, including meat, in the garden bin - I discover the joys of Rother Council:

Little bin 1: Types 1,2 + 3 plastics (most drinks bottles but not many cartons, eg yoghurt which are mostly Type 6 for me) + cans (but no jar lids)

Little bin 2: white paper. Literally. No card and even the plastic windows of envelopes must be removed.

Garden bin: no peelings (WTF?!), definitely no food waste.

And to boot, the random bin is only 180l instead of 240l for a fortnightly collection.

No local drops for cardboard. Station car park takes glass (good), but the same paper and plastics as my own bins (the point of that being?...) and no cardboard...

Rather than fight such pathetic uselessness head on[1], I gave up and got one of these:

connection etc, can be got cheaper at many places).

Seems to work very well. Being DIY, I should have made my own, but without a welder or a heavy tube bender, it would be hard to make something so simple and elegant.

Problem solved...

[1] This will be remembered at the next local elections and used to beat candidates over the head with...

I'll get rid of the paper bin and garden bins next. Poor paper bin only has

2 envelopes in the bottom. And I'll have composting up and running soon so that will take a lot of kitchen waste... Cardboard will probably be kept as fire lighting material.

[Adrian C]

I climb a nearby wall, open the bin and carefully jump up and down on the things what's inside. They haven't tipped me into the collection dust cart just yet :-)

[Andy Dingley]

I've got both, but I've also got 25 quid and no spare time. Looks like a good gadget and a sensible price.

[pcb1962]

hmm, just beware of compacting it too vigorously or it won't fall out when the bin is inverted. My council even has an FAQ about this:

[ARWadsworth]

The recycle bins are a nightmare.

We get

Grey - general rubbish Brown - Glass, aluminium and steel Blue - Paper (newspapers fine but no telephone directories) Green - Grass/hedge cuttings etc and cardboard. But no cardboard that has had contact with food and no shiney cardboard and only thin cardboard.

However I frequently work in at least 6 other different council areas and they all have different ideas as to what can go in their different coloured bins.

When a friend had the wheelie bin police stick a note through his letterbox saying the cardboard he had put in his green bin was too thick he asked the council to redo the note on a piece of cardboard that was the maximum thickness allowed. No response yet from the council.

Adam

[Bob Eager]

And the order site needs Flash, and the Contact Us form doesn't appear to work....

[Bob Eager]

Our council has a new twist this week...

We put garden waste in a green bin, and landfill waste in a grey bin.

Recycling goes in a clear plastic bag. We get 17 of these every three months. More can be obtained from the council offices, free.

My understanding is that it's the *ratio* of recyclables that matters to the council, so the more recycling the better (as well as less landfill and tax, of course).

So the latest money saving idea is to charge £2 for each extra roll of recycling bags...they actually want us to pay to help them...!

The law of unintended consequences kicks in....

[mogga]

Write to the local paper expressing disatisfaction with the council's recycling policy. If you can stand looking grumpy by a wheely bin long enough for them to take a picture they'll put you in.

(email the letters page so it doesn't even cost you a stamp)

[pete]

Yes it *looks* like a good idea (though I don't believe the marketing "advantages" it claims: stop small animals foraging? nah, they can't jump that high - or open the lid). However, it does look as it puts a lot of strain on the pivot point: the two plastic handles used to up-end the bin.

[Ash]

I can't understand why we have to have individual wheelie bins ... we've now got three like I suspect the majority of the population and also a nice little one for the kitchen where we can put our food scraps and then empty them into the brown garden trimmings and food waste bin.

In Spain, for instance, at the top and bottom of each street (and the middle if the street is fairly long) there are conveniently sited 1000 litre (or so) wheelie bins. A green one for general rubbish and a yellow one for cans, plastics, milk cartons, etc. About every other street there's a paper bin and glass bin. The general rubbish bin is empty daily and the yellow one weekly ... the paper and glass about fortnightly. If you have anything which someone else may be able to use like a broken chair, TV, car battery etc just leave it next to the bin and it'll be gone within a few minutes by a grateful passing Spaniard/Moroccan.

The bins are cleaned regularly and even washed! All without the need for messy individual wheelie bins ... so why do we have such a polluting and unsightly system? Trying to negotiate the footpaths around our house on wheelie bin day here is a nightmare ... especially after they have emptied the bins and then leave them stewn all over the footpath without regard for pedestrians.

Ash

[Bob Eager]

The argument is that you can get all the bags in the bin instead of leaving the excess ones on the floor where animals can get at them. Since many councils won't take bags not in the bin, that's a moot point.

[mogga]

You mean like in caravan parks?

[Tim W]

Bob Eager wibbled on Friday 13 November 2009 13:05

I actually bought mine here:

went to the trouble to confirm it would work on a 180l narrow bin (destructions claim 140l is also OK) and it arrived 2 days later - so they deserve a plug :)

[Dave Liquorice]

will grow legs and walk faster than the biodegradeable rubbish in the bin...

We have a fairly sensible council weekly collection for the blue bag of general waste, alternate weeks for the green box of paper, metal and glass or green wheelie bin of garden waste. Food waste goes on our compost heap.

I do wish they took plastics on their collection and cardboard but as the weekly supermarket has facilties for those it's no great hardship or cost to take them there.

[Tim W]

pete wibbled on Friday 13 November 2009 13:19

Yes - that's marketing bollocks. Although it does stop the fox raking the bones out of the bags to the side of the bin that I hd yesterday, now happily squished in.

It's not too bad actually. It's only a 2x mechanical advantage and those pivots are pretty solid.

I was contemplating all sorts of things like a 3x3" timber frame round the bin and bottle jack+plate[1] between the frame and the rubbish. In the end I thought I'd google on the basis that someone must make something...

[1] The problem is that the compressive force needed to squish some air out of a few bits of loose rubbish isn't very high but the stroke distance is, which is the opposite to what a bottle jack is optimised for.

[Tim W]

Ash wibbled on Friday 13 November 2009 13:22

Ah yes. Two problems:

a) It's far too sensible for any idiot local politician here;

b) They won't be able to tax you by weight[1] down the line when they chip the bin.

[2] I don't have much of a problem with this approach. At the end of the day, I live, I consume, I recycle and whats left has to go somewhere. I want the last bit to be as painless as possible... I'm happy to pay my fair share.

[Tim W]

mogga wibbled on Friday 13 November 2009 13:14

I could sign it "Disgusted, formerly of Tunbridge Wells" ;->

In theory I have the bin inspector coming round sometime to see if I qualify for a 240l bin and to see if I have recycled everything that's possible to do so round here (and taking soggy cardboard to a dump 3 miles away isn't an option in my book).

[Tim W]

pcb1962 wibbled on Friday 13 November 2009 12:55

The Trash Basher company claim this isn;t a problem - but I'll watch the dustmen next Monday and see how it goes. Wheely bins are quite good at not getting stuck due to being tapered.

[Tim W]

Bob Eager wibbled on Friday 13 November 2009 13:08

Genius...

[Tim W]

Adrian C wibbled on Friday 13 November 2009 12:50

I've done that before, but I don't fancy it in the rain and the bin is a bit narrower than normal so more chance of falling over/off.