Maggots in dustbin (elimination thereof)

Well as a family of five, doing all the recyling 100% properly, there's no way that one standard wheelie bin is enough - eg here we can't recycle any plastic, food waste, or any contaminated food packaging. However, familes of 5 and over can apply for a special Big wheelie bin, which we've just done. But first they make you wait and monitor your existing waste production for ages to assess how much over you are, then apply with a detailed form; then wait and see if you get approved. Then they say they will send the Bin Police round regularly to rake through your rubbish to check you aren't abusing the privilege of your Big Bin entitlement. Meanwhile, with a bin size to match that of the single pensioner up the road, we are responsible for personally disposing of any waste over and above our standard bin's-worth.

And another thing. What happens to our old dustbins? Having converted 70,000 households to wheelie bins, the council say it's the householder's responsibility to dispose of their old bins. That's got to be 100,000+ plastic (mainly) and metal bins? In an area where there's no plastic recycling, too. And quite what people with no access to a car to transport their bin to the dump are supposed to do is anybody's guess.

Oh, and one more thing while I'm on my high horse. Green bins - newly provided for garden waste. In their wisdom, the council have delivered one to every household, regardless of whether they happen to have a garden or not. But fear not, we mustn't worry, because they will come and collect them back from anyone who asks. Never mind about the hundreds who won't bother to make the phone call, which will leave the town's streets littered with surplus bins... love 'em.

David

Next the council will forbid salt in their bins, on the grounds that the refuse staff are suffering high blood pressure from ingesting too much salt.

;-)

I think that there is a reasonable balance. Historically, rubbish collections have been a weekly thing and people are geared up for that. Bagging stuff up, tying it and putting it in the bin is reasonable. I don't think that having to split it up, put some bits in a compost bin and others in bags in the freezer and all the rest of it is.

In effect, the local authority has halved the service by reducing the collection frequency. Have they halved the amount of money collected that relates to this part of their service? I very much doubt it. Did they poll their customers and ask if they were happy to have collections only every two weeks? Who knows.

Either way, if they are going to reduce a service, they should ask the customers first and provide an option to opt out. In other words, if the general level of service is halved and I don't accept that, then there should be an option not to pay and to go elsewhere for rubbish collection.

The message from Peter Lynch contains these words:

How is it longer if you're on holiday?

The message from Lobster contains these words:

Grief, what on earth do you do that generates all that waste? There are four of us and our wheelie bin (only a small one) is rarely more than half full after a fortnight.

Well we're pretty normal! Plastic (none is recyclable here) probably accounts for a good proportion, plus contaminated food packaging I suppose?

David

She might have done better if those dissatisfied had the possibility to opt out of the council service and direct their funds to her.

I would have done it as a matter of principle anyway - even if she was more expensive.

But how does collecting the rubbish every two weeks instead of every week make a difference to that? The volume doesn't change overall....

OK, as the total package, I would agree.

However, what about the extra storage space required for all these wheelie bins? Do they supply two or??

I assume they'll rot fairly well. The setup is mainly to keep rats out I think.

Waste removal costs about £100 per house per year (Can't think of the source for this but I've read it recently) Our council tax is about £1000 a year and the same source reckoned that's 10% of the council spend. So for each house they get at least

Don't breathe it in.

a) Land fill tax is weight based not volume.

b) They hope that a bin full of recyables will encourage people to recycle them. Recycled mass doesn't count for land fill tax.

pretty similar to this cone except it has a colony of special mail-order worms inside instead of bacteria (or as well as bacteria, I suppose!)

David

Plastic is very patchy and even in areas where they do have facilties it varies on what a particular point will take. Penrith will take films, bags and hard plastics, Carlisle hard plastics only and no cartons at all.

That's what the council subsidised compost bin is for...

What contaminated food packaging? Tins rinse easy, as do bottles and jars, frozen food packs/bags are pretty clean but again rinse if required. The only "contaminated food packaging" I can think of would be from take aways or ready meals and even then can be washed. Does your family think cooking is 3'30" in the microwave? Followed by only eating half and dumping the rest in the bin?

IMHO wheelie bins actually slow the collection of rubbish down. How long does it take to wheel a bin to the back of the truck, hoist it up, shake, lower, wheel back, 60 seconds or more? If you blink you miss our rubbish collection, truck stops, man leaps out, picks up bag, lobs it into the back and hops back in, 15 seconds maximum.

Cut the bottom off and use it as a compost bin. You get to keep the compost instead of the council selling it back to you.

Yes, and they charge (well, at my place anyway) less than 50 euros a year for the service.

The message from mogga contains these words:

More like a third of a bod once you've paid NI, pensions, sick pay, maternity pay etc.

Not having evolved to wheelie bins, the main problem round here is that, however well you bag up and tightly close food waste, the foxes will rip it open just to check. In our local park I used to rant about kids emptying rubbish bins just for the hell of it until one day I watched a gang of crows methodically drag everything out and scatter it across the car park. Bloody vandals