RMweb Gold 30801 Posted September 30, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 30, 2011 For food waste we have a green cone The council was selling them for £15 a couple of years ago. The amount of rubbish produced these days is staggering. I grew up in a family of six and we had just a small metal bin that everything went in. Now we're a family of three and manage to fill a large wheelie bin without putting in any recyclables. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Wintle Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 Our local collection went to fortnightly garbage and weekly food waste and recyclables two years ago. All I can say is that I'm glad that the last two summers haven't had long periods of really hot weather. the food waste collection doesn't include things like contaminated packaging, so there is still a lot that goes in the general waste that could become quite noxious if left in a garbage bin for two weeks in hot weather (or four weeks, if your vacation happens to coincide with the garbage collection week). I tend not to put anything out on the non-garbage weeks as I don't generate enough recyclables or food waste to justify the effort of moving the bins the 30' to the end of the drive. Raccoon-proof bins tend to be a requirement around here, too (bears usually aren't seen in town - once in the last 10 years, I think). Adrian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium petethemole Posted September 30, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 30, 2011 My district was recently experiencing a bin-mens' strike which ran for some time. My main wheely bin was barely full after 8 weeks and was still capable of being squashed down, at which point some nutter nicked it! A full bin! The recycling bin lasted even longer by dint of very careful loading and compressing. there's only 2 of us though and I was keeping some card boxes for future needs. The contrast with other households was remarkable however, with some enormous piles of black bags about. My main beef is how to dispose of these new-fangled light bulb things; you can't/I won't put them in the bin (safety of bin-men) so I'm supposed to take them to the recycling centre, which has a large sign "No Pedestrians" ( I don't drive). Hmmm. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
10800 Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 adult size people and cats and rabbits the general bin will be full days before the collection is due Yes it's amazing how much space and weight is taken up by cat litter We have something similar, a general bin that is collected fortnightly and a composting bin for the alternate weeks together with boxes for glass, plastics, tins and paper. Something seems to be improving over time as we can now recycle soft drink bottles etc where previously only milk bottles were accepted, and also aluminium cans as well as steel cans. Apparently we (Teignbridge) are one of the top recycling districts in the country. But what this discussion tells me is that we are all individuals in habits and preferences and it is therefore difficult to impose a one-size-fits-all system without there also being some common sense and flexibility. Some authorities will not accept any extra bags separate from the bins (which after Christmas/New Year can be a problem with all the accumulated hoilday delays which mean there could be a 3 week gap between general collections), ours seem to be reasonable. I'm certainly not averse to seeing what spare capacity there is in other bins (once they have been left out of course) to even out the variation a bit if we're a bit 'overweight' one week. And as for 'metering' waste disposal let's not even go there. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karhedron Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 I was reading about that on the BBC just before I came on - I can't believe anyone would put up with trash collection every other week! I'm sure it was twice per week the last time I lived in London. I do just fine with fortnightly bin collections. Rubbish one week and recycling the next. We are a family of 4 (with one child still in nappies) so it is not even as if we are "rubbish lite". If we can manage with fortnightly collections I don't see why anyone else cannot. As it is the government seems determined to landfill £250 million. I would far rather see that money spent on schools, hospitals or even (dare I say it), the railways. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
edcayton Posted September 30, 2011 Author Share Posted September 30, 2011 For the past few months, though, we've not had general waste bins per household. Instead, there are communal general waste bins at each end of the street, which get emptied a couple of times per week. In my eyes, it's an excellent result. No more bin taking up my front yard; no more line of bins blocking the pavement each bin day; no more trying to remember if this is the all-rubbish collection week or not. Plus, as the communal bins are bigger, it means that if necessary we can throw out bigger items without getting an extra "bulk collection" charge. Those neighbours who either can't walk to the communal bins easily, or can't lift their lids, have been allowed to keep their household collection. That's fine,but what about the poor b*****s who live next to these communal bins? which I am sure the users do not bother to make sure the lids are shut, or even that the rubbish actually goes IN the bin. As the OP, I am disappointed that no-one has picked up on my point about my local environment (ie my street) where all the front gardens are all full of a multiplicity of broken and overflowing plastic containers. Ed Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewC Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 Well here in the boring borough half our front garden is now festooned with bloody bins. green = garbage once every 2 weeks. brown = food waste and compostable, weekly 3 small tubs for glass, tin & plastics, and 1 for paper. Plastic is bottle only but if you want to recycle any other plastics you can take them to a recycling point. I don't mind the fortnightly rubbish pickup as we rarely fill it half way. I really can't see why we need a weekly dry waste pickup. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForestPines Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 That's fine,but what about the poor b*****s who live next to these communal bins? which I am sure the users do not bother to make sure the lids are shut, or even that the rubbish actually goes IN the bin. As the OP, I am disappointed that no-one has picked up on my point about my local environment (ie my street) where all the front gardens are all full of a multiplicity of broken and overflowing plastic containers. Communal bins have definitely helped that in our street. In general, it's very rare that I see the bins with their lids open, or with rubbish dumped next to them. Where possible the council seem to have located the bins in spots that aren't directly outside house frontages, at least not on the same side of the road. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium melmerby Posted September 30, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 30, 2011 You'll probably find that it isn't really and most of it just gets dumped - if you can advise on how plastic gets sorted "automatically" - unless they have a technology not generally available elsewhere. Best, Pete. Pete, you are obviously not up on the latest technology. See here: http://www.sensorsinc.com/plasticsorting.html The only problem is the system won't recognise black plastics and they have to be left out. Our council uses a system like this. A similar set up was on BBC1 a couple of months ago. All the recyclables go through and various sensors weed out items (e.g. ferrous/non-ferrous metals etc.) at each stage with only a little manual filtering at the beginning and end. Cheers Keith Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium melmerby Posted September 30, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 30, 2011 There was a Pensioner on BBC radio at lunchtime bemoaning the fortnightly collections because of her food waste that sits around and when asked said why she needed a weekly collection the example she gave flabbergasted me: She said as she was a 74 year old pensioner she "bought two chickens to save a £1, but the second one went off" so she had to throw it (and the remains of the first one) away. Absolutely amazing! Talk about food wastage, exactly what was the point of that. She also said I have never recycled a thing in my life and "I am not starting now". Shows what the problem is. Keith Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 Pete, you are obviously not up on the latest technology. See here: Cheers Keith ha. I admit I'm not! Now I am though and we apparently use the technology in my own county here, many thanks!!! Most interesting.... Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Brinkly Posted September 30, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 30, 2011 Apparently we (Teignbridge) are one of the top recycling districts in the country. Teignbridge invest a lot of money in schools, sending children on trips to recycling plants and so on, which is something that they should be praised for. Regards, Nick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xerces Fobe2 Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 Does not matter which party is running the country they obviously all like talking rubbish Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickey Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 I recycle all sorts and hardly even get the bin to half empty - But the point is that for the extortionate amount of Council Tax SCC get out of me I really do expect some sort of half decent services from them in return. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Brinkly Posted September 30, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 30, 2011 Does not matter which party is running the country they obviously all like talking rubbish I'm sure a lot of people will have seen similar examples, but last week I overtook a lorry carrying sewage and the slogan on the side said 'Full of political promise!' Regards, Nick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold mcowgill Posted September 30, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 30, 2011 A lot of the problem is down to attitudes, some of which are generational. We are a household of 5, 2 adults and 3 teenagers. We've had fortnightly coillections for as long as I can remember, general refuse one week and recycleables the other week. Apart from odd occasions such as when we were clearing out part of the house before we demolished and rebuilt an extension, I don't believe we have ever filled the general refuse bin in two weeks, even years ago with nappy waste. The other bin for recycing is a different matter, it's full again and will not be collected until next week. Food waste? The majority of this goes into compost or is boiled down for stock, to be honest most of it gets eaten - that seems to be the main purpose of buying the stuff. Both my mother and mother-in-law will fill up there general rubbish bins in no time and hardly ever fill the recycle bin, neither of them seem to see the point of it and complain about their forthightly collections. We're happy with collections every two weeks, the area we are in is very rural and I suspect the costs of returning to weekly collections would be prohibitive and would also increase the amount of waste sent to landfill at the expense of recycling. Remember, extra waste to landfill means higher council taxes - councils are taxed on the amount of our waste they throw away and have targets for recycling, This proposal will only make things worse, much better to take a long look at what you're throwing away and get your council to sort out it's recycling policy to take the recycleable waste they are making you send to landfill. Martin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodbine Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 We are a family of four and two pets. I have no problem with the present alternating fortnight system. We have a small food leftover box, lined with a biodegradable plastic bag that that goes into a larger one outside and is collected weekly (and occasionally washed by me), and our various bins are never overfull. It all works very well and causes no offense or health risk. Councils who don't organise it well will learn from those who do, or suffer criticism (and lose votes). I think the obsession of some of our politicians and newspapers with weekly collections is mere populist ranting. And expensive at £250000000 squids! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Kris Posted September 30, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 30, 2011 Fortnightly collections are fine for me. I suspect that I don't create enough waste to fill my general non recyclable wheelie bin in 5 months let alone 2 weeks. My recycling wheelie bin that is also the garden waste bin is another matter, this frequently goes out so full that I can only just move it and on a couple of occasions I appear to have filled it so much that the bin men were unable to empty it with the stuff in it being packed down so much or it being over weight for the lifting mechanism. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted September 30, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 30, 2011 Perhaps surprisingly the largest part of household waste that goes to landfill is disposable nappies. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 The last three houses we've lived in have all had fortnightly collections backed up by excellent recycling, so its never been a problem. Sadly where we live now has fortnightly collections, small wheelie bins and s** all recycling ... i don't want a weekly bin collection, I just want Wiltshire council to do some ****** recycling , every other English council seems to manage it! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Classsix T Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 There was a Pensioner on BBC radio at lunchtime bemoaning the fortnightly collections because of her food waste that sits around and when asked said why she needed a weekly collection the example she gave flabbergasted me: She said as she was a 74 year old pensioner she "bought two chickens to save a £1, but the second one went off" so she had to throw it (and the remains of the first one) away. Absolutely amazing! Talk about food wastage, exactly what was the point of that. She also said I have never recycled a thing in my life and "I am not starting now". Shows what the problem is. Keith That silly moo couldn't even get the presenter's name right! I think it paints a very poor picture of middle Englanders that the "Daily Wail" devotes it's entire front page to this topic AND claims credit for it! I'm with Mallard, after you've dealt with the recyclables and compostables there shouldn't be an issue, unless your council isn't up to scratch - which has its own solution. C6T. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium skipepsi Posted October 1, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 1, 2011 If you live in a flat or a house like the one I rent 'compostables' are not relevant what you can put in the compost bin is strictly limited to garden waste and uncooked vegetable matter. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 It looks like from reading some recent posts that Disposable Nappies should be banned! All that smelly stuff should be handled by the Sewerage System and diapers recycled i.e. washed. Ducks and runs for cover........... Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium petethemole Posted October 1, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 1, 2011 The UK's first nappy recycling plant was recently opened by a firm called Knowaste. Hopefully there will be more, plus, more importantly, the means and public will to collect them for recycling., Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 They'll probably turn up as Kellogs cereal boxes........ Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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