The effort some people make...

[Arch]

We're going through some changes at work, picking up new recycling rounds, and dropping some current ones. The council will be taking over those instead, while we concentrate on the city centre area. (We're a charity, operating a service in conjunction with the council).

One street we've just finished, is some sort of private road ('unadopted' perhaps?). The residents, or at least a couple of vocal ones, are not happy with the change - partly because it means moving from our 'put it all in one box' system, to the council 'sort it into three boxes' one. It's hardly difficult - paper and card in one, glass in another, tins and plastic in another. And the houses are big semis, plenty of room for the boxes. We may collect it in one box, but we prefer it sorted into bags - however we're flexible enough, and keen enough to see material recycled, to sort stuff not left out according to the rules. So they've got used to not having to make any effort, which will have to change.

Anyway, these vocal people are saying that they don't want the council to collect, and to that end, they are going to tell all the residents to put the recycling in the landfill rubbish (and of course, the more goes into landfill, the more the council is fined and the more the Council Tax goes up), and one is saying that he's going to park his car on the road every collection day especially to block the big wagons.

So much thought and effort, put into obstruction. Why?

 

[courtenay]

surely it would be easyier to just sort the recycling.... some people amaze me lol

 

[Chutzpah]

Telling people to do some simple sorting does get the blood running, doesn't it?

Our area has just started a food waste recycling service. I didn't think I'd make use of it (we have rabbits and chickens to finish most scraps, plus a compost heap) but I've found myself making good use of it with stuff that I couldn't give the animals going in there.

And if the council can compost it and make money... that's a good thing right?

 

[davefb]

surely, its a load cheaper if the sorting is done at source? assuming it isnt then just mixed into one

could charge em a surcharge ?

the thing i gripe about is that we have the 'bottles' bin, its not 100% clear what is and what isnt valid and i'm sure it's changed as the council changed which place it takes it's stuff.

of course we already have 3 bins ( paper /bottles / household) so i'd hardly want extra bins for 'plastic' vs 'glass' or something. just wish they could be partitioned or something .

if the road is unadopted, i'd be surprised if the bin wagons bother going up there anyway, i know a few unadopted where the residents have to drag the bins down to the end. ( makes em really happy )

eewww food waste,,, surely that stinks

 

[Chutzpah]

eewww food waste,,, surely that stinks

No more than if you were to shove it in the bin and leave it to rot there. You have a little caddie for inside (so you are almost forced to empty it regularly) and then a bigger bin outside.

 

[Bayerd]

surely, its a load cheaper if the sorting is done at source? assuming it isnt then just mixed into one

could charge em a surcharge ?

the thing i gripe about is that we have the 'bottles' bin, its not 100% clear what is and what isnt valid and i'm sure it's changed as the council changed which place it takes it's stuff.

of course we already have 3 bins ( paper /bottles / household) so i'd hardly want extra bins for 'plastic' vs 'glass' or something. just wish they could be partitioned or something .

if the road is unadopted, i'd be surprised if the bin wagons bother going up there anyway, i know a few unadopted where the residents have to drag the bins down to the end. ( makes em really happy )

eewww food waste,,, surely that stinks

My road is like that, it's great, we have to leave bags at the end of the street every week, they've no idea who's recycling and who isn't. It means I can just bung the lot into one bag and not worry...

 

[Theseus]

My road is like that, it's great, we have to leave bags at the end of the street every week, they've no idea who's recycling and who isn't. It means I can just bung the lot into one bag and not worry...

Not too difficult to identify you if your rubbish includes anything with your name or address on it.

 

[byegad]

Isn't it time the Council started fining people for not sorting their rubbish?

 

[RedBike]

Isn't it time the Council started fining people for not sorting their rubbish?

I got threatened with a £110 fine earlier this year for not washing one of the tins out and putting a glossy magazine in the paper bin. The same job-worth also thretened to fine me if I hadn't removed the bin(s) from the pavement by lunch time! (Lord knows how i'm supposted to put the bins away while i'm at work!)

Now, rather than risk a fine, I just put everything in the non- recycling bin.

 

[Over The Hill]

Seems the world is full of them Arch!

How about if the recycle bin is not more full up than the waste bin you dont get the waste bin taken away.


I was amazed in Holland last year, almost everyone going in the supermarket has a bag full of bottles (plastic and glass and all sizes) which they queue up and put through a hole in the wall one at a time. The bottle went up a belt and got sorted out. A little ticket then comes out which gives them some points or money off at the till.

The bag is then used for the shopping too.

 

[Bayerd]

Not too difficult to identify you if your rubbish includes anything with your name or address on it.

Which is why nothing with my name and address on goes in there. Also, nobody sifts through them at the end of the street, the job lot gets chucked into the back of the rubbish wagon.

 

[Fnaar]

It's not that difficult to follow local recycling rules, surely?
We recycle everything possible... and I nag neighbours/friends who don't. It may not halt the decline of humanity, but there's a chance that it might just help.

 

[fossyant]

The bins have been breeding round our way. Brown for plastic and glass bottles and tins, green for garden waste (although we compost most of ours), blue - paper and card, black for non-recycling................and a food waste bin/bag.

Now, we're supposed to put the food waste bag in the 'green' bin on collection day. What are they doing with the food waste ? - I assume they are sorting it from the green waste then incinerating it ?

 

[Amanda P]

We seem to produce very little rubbish. There's not much that can't be recycled, composted or burnt in the stove (free heating).

On those rare occasions when we do put our landfill bin out, our neighbours usually fill it.

God help us if they start charging us for it.

Mrs UP worked for while in Ireland. There, you have to pay €5 a time for bin bags to be collected. Amazing how that concentrates the mind on recycling - and making small those things that have to go to landfill.

 

[Arch]

The bins have been breeding round our way. Brown for plastic and glass bottles and tins, green for garden waste (although we compost most of ours), blue - paper and card, black for non-recycling................and a food waste bin/bag.

Now, we're supposed to put the food waste bag in the 'green' bin on collection day. What are they doing with the food waste ? - I assume they are sorting it from the green waste then incinerating it ?

It's possible they are bunging it in an anerobic digester and generating methane, and thence power - if they were only incinerating it, they might as well incinerate the land fill stuff too.

Our one box system works because we are a small outfit, and prepared to sort at the kerbside. To cover the whole city like that would be very labour intensive. I gather that if stuff isn't sorted properly for the council, they just don't take it - a few of the areas we currently pander to are going to get a shock when the council take over. For another thing, we will pick a box up from inside a garden - the council won't, if it's not on the kerbside, it doesn't exist.

I think one problem with this country is that there is no single national system - hell, there are different systems within one city. And some people see that and use it as an excuse not to bother. Simpler is better, but costs in terms of staff or expensive sorting machinery. I really don't understand people who say they haven't got time to sort stuff - you just bung it in the right box when you throw it away. It's not hard. The average 3 year old can sort stuff by shape or colour or material.

The Dutch example (also found in Scandinavia) is good - another bonus is that I gatherglass bottles are washed and reused - much more efficient than smashing them up, melting them down and remaking them - and losing quality at the same time.