Maggots in dustbin (elimination thereof)

The message from Andy Hall contains these words:

But I don't do anything except bung it in and close the lid. I don't even bag it. Why would I need to, there's only plastic wrapping film and the odd bit of paper that's too scummy to recycle - like wrapping paper.

That's enterprising. In the animal kingdom I think it's called parasitism. OTOH for a couple of £ .....

Make sure that all meat products are put into plastic bags so the flies cannot get at them to lay the eggs in the first place.

If you find any maggots in the bin, you can spray them with fly spray, which kills them instantly.

And where did the 'trail' lead to?(:-)

Alan

I had wondered about doing that with the rubbish supermarkets create, returning it to the supermarkets that is!

Then you do not have any problems with maggots?

Alan

Meat does not do well in a compost heap, and it attracts rats.

Meat only has to be in a bin for a day to attract flies, so you feel that the council should collect every day?

Or use a much more sensible approach and put all meat products in a plastic bag before depositing it in the bin.

Alan

That GreenCone thing looks interesting - anyone got one and does it really do what they say it does?

What happens to bones?

david

Having now read the Council "propaganda" it seems they recommend putting some salt in the bin bags, and the bin.

Will try this for a week or two and see what happens....Jeyes fluid next.

I have lots of "legacy" creosote in the garage!.....but that's for my shed!

Regarding writing to the council....hundreds have done it already, to no avail.

david

I suspect if you dig a bit deeper it's related to the land fill tax that is pretty steep already and going to get even higher. All councils need to encourage the recycling of as much waste as possible to reduce the amount of land fill tax they'll have to pay.

You can get some stuff from Wilkinsons for bins. Called ' Fresh Bin' made by Jeyes and smells the same. Been using it since we got wheelie bins and 2 week collection. So far no maggots.....

Dave

The message from "Alan Holmes" contains these words:

None. Not even in the compost heap.

The message from Andy Hall contains these words:

Round here some enterprising woman bought an old rubbish lorry and started infill collections for those dissatisfied with the council's collections.

AFAIK she failed because there wasn't sufficient market once everyone got used to fortnightly collections.

That's certainly the way the councils like to promote it. By reducing the number of collections of _food_ waste from weekly to bi-weekly and using the alternate weeks to collect other waste, they've effectively kept their collectin costs the same. The total amount of waste they collect is still the same (though I agree, what they do with it is different).

My gripe is that by having rotting food lying about in the sun for up to 2 weeks - or longer if you are on holiday, it smells bad and is a health hazard. The maggots/flies are one of the symptoms of leaving all this stuff in bins.

Pete

We've just gone fortnightly too, coincident with the arrival of wheelie bins and pavement recycling to the borough. I as unhappy as anybody else about the fornightly collections, as our wheelie bin is reeking in this weather despite everything being bagged up. However I don't buy that the council has reduced its service per se, because where last month they came round every week to collect everything in black bags, now they come round on alternate weeks to empty (a) black wheelie bin/paper sack/cardboard sack; or (b) green wheelie bin/bottles&tins/textiles; which is something they've been forced into by central government in order to meet their recycling targets.

Given that they now collect garden waste when before they didn't, you could argue that the service has been enhanced!

David

Wel, that's what they do in Mediterranean countries where the temperature is comparable to what we've been experiencing here recently!

David