Maggots in dustbin (elimination thereof)

[Stuart Noble]

Not like you, Andy. I thought you weighed up the pros and cons objectively. I hope you're not making decisions on principle...

[DMac]

you could always take "direct action" as someone else suggested.

irate Bristol resident has dumped a food recycling bin on the doorstep of a councillor claiming the bins have never been emptied since the scheme started. The bin came with an anonymous letter suggesting councillor Steven Comer got a taste of the "stinking squalor" which was blighting the street in Eastville.

Mr Comer said some isolated incidents had occurred but added homes missed should call the council's hotline.

"We've had a few complaints but overall the scheme has been a success."

[Owain]

Local council changed the bin lorry, so had to issue new wheelie bins as the lorry didn't fit the old bins.

The old bins were landfilled, illegally, in the council's own landfill dump.

Owain

[Bob Eager]

If you're not there on 'bin day', there's no-one to take it out. No good leaving it by your gate, because (a) the binmen won't take the extra step and (b) they'll leave it in some random place on the pavement.i

[Andy Hall]

Normally, you're right, I do. However, it would be worth it if enough people followed suit.

What I would prefer to see is some competition in the form of a few licensed private operators competing on service and price and with the customer paying them directly rather than the council as a middle man.

As it is now, most outsource to private firms as it is and then heavily police them. I would rather customers policed them by shopping elsewhere if they don't perform and with the council as a backstop to make sure that general standards are met.

What I don't like is layers of management without added value, and it strikes me that councils are taking money, not adding very much value at all and then outsourcing the work with no customer choice in the matter.

[Andy Hall]

OK, but the weight remains the same as well....

I'm not convinced by that argument. I will recycle things if

- it doesn't take much time, effort and inconvenience

- there's a financial or other incentive

- I'm convinced that they really are recycling what is collected

- it is worth doing in the first place (i.e. ecological saving exceeds expenditure.

I'm probably not a lot different to a lot of people in some or all of these things.

Having in a bin full of stuff doesn't really seem much of an incentive.

If they gave me a council tax reduction of £50 - 100 per year for recycling, that might be an incentive. The trouble is that they would need to employ dozens more inspectors to make sure that I did it.

[Dave Liquorice]

So instead of having the streets clogged up once a week (or fortnight) with the bin wagons you either have a load of them throughout a single day or "bin days" spread through the week. Wonderful, not.

Of course I doubt it would take long for these private operators to come to "an arrangement" where they collect "each others" rubbish.

[Guy King]

The message from "Bob Eager" contains these words:

Ah, that's what neighbours are for. Since they're already feeding the cat they have the common sense to pull the bins out as well. At least, they always have done.

[Mick Nelson]

Guy Fawkes would have suggested gunpowder.

Mick

[gort]

Worcester will recycle type 1 and 2 plastic. But here's the laugh, when we recycled using plastic collection bags they would take ali foil which I would think would be very good income. Now they have gone high tech with a multi million pound waste recycle facility which CANNOT handle ali foil. So it goes in the landfill!!!!

Dave

[John Rumm]

At what cost (monetary or environmental) in water, heating, and detergent though?

A wheelie bin probably holds more than 4 bags worth of rubbish though.

[Peter]

So, increase the council tax, triple the numer of collections and therefor wages, bellow out more diesel, buy more trucks, get all those cans and bottles washed out with scarce water supplies, leave them all outside for 2 weeks. Yeah this recycling is well thought out.. Our collection involves mixing cans and bottles all in one plastic box with the collector seperating them for each house. Beggars belief. Like any decently run organisation attention should occasionally divert to costs. Councils simply vote to increase income. California, decades ago, tried something new, democracy i think it was called. Proposition 13 enabled the elecrorate to set the tax rate, with lists of services lost/ gained at each tax band. No prizes for guessing the outcome.

P

[Lobster]

Only that in most areas (certainly in mine) the introduction of fortnightly collections is coincident with that of wheelie bins/pavement recycling

According to the council's PR puff, they are already inspecting my rubbish to make sure I'm recycling. (But that probably means they're just checking who's not putting out a paper sack/bottle box alongside their wheelie bin...)

David

[Brian Sharrock]

In our district ... an ambulatory man goes from house to house and collects a black (council supplied: thirteen per quarter] plastic bag from the bins. these he heaps on the side of the pavemnet - a few minutes later the wagon pulls up to each pile of bags, out pops the driver and hurls all the bags into the back of the wagon ... and off to the next heap. Blink and you'll miss it. But .... following a public 'consulatation' ; all that's changing: we're going to have two wheely bins, fortnightly collections and the list of stuff we can't recycle has lengthened.

Progress ... you couldn't make it up!

[Andy Hall]

What is "type 1" and "type 2" plastic?

This is really eco-speak-bollocks.

How is an old lady meant to deal with that?

[gort]

THe binmen in Worcester look inside to see whats what, I have seen them do it.

Dave

[Frank Erskine]

With our paper recycling scheme we're supposed to include envelopes, but are supposed to cut "windows" out of envelopes that have them, and dispose of them separately. Sod that.

[Owain]

That would be sensible - a choice of tariff and provider, but only one vehicle running down the street.

A bit like, erm, electricity and gas.

Owain

[gort]

Its usally PET type plastic, blown type bottles and its inside the little triangle symbol on the bottle. Its all in the manual you get with the wheeelie bin, I kid you not.

Dave

[Andy Hall]

OK, so the alternative would be to have a single operator on a time limited contract (one year max) without the council in the middle of the transaction.