Refuse Bins

[Bazile]

When did this practice start of keeping refuse bins on the frontages of houses ?

[maggiebee]

jno, you're lucky. We have no garden waste uplift Nov - Feb.  Apparently you're not supposed to garden in the winter.  

[jno]

madness! Here in the sultry south things continue to grow, especially when drenched with downpours every day.

[Smowball]

We have 3 big bins -  one is for cardboard/paper waste, one is for glass & recyled plastics, and 3rd is for unrecyclable waste. Then we have a small food waste caddy which is for, obviously, all the kitchen food waste. Big bins are collected fortnightly - one week glass & plastic, nxt week cardboard & unrecyclable, and the food waste caddy is collected weekly. If we wanted a garden waste big bin we could have one at a cost of about £60 a year I think, but I just fill my own bag and drive to the tip.

Nobody is allowed to keep their bins on the pavement or road - they have to be kept on your own driveway, or outside your own house.

[barry1010]

People who live in terraced houses that open straight on to the pavement have little choice but to keep them on the pavement, especially if the live in the back to backs that still exist.

The last governement said that every household in England will have only one recycling bin and one for non-recyclables to simplify and boost recycling.  We shall have to see what happens

[New Judge]

“We pruned a cherry tree yesterday and, after shredding it, virtually filled our green bin; well worth £2 to have it taken and emptied for us.”

Of course what you could have done is, after shredding it, bagged up the shreddings and kept them for two years. Then, hey presto! You will have bags of superb potting and general purpose compost. If you’re going to chuck the material away there’s no need to shred it really.

“At the same time our five recycling depots have their hours cut drastically and booking is now required, no exceptions, and photo ID plus proof of residency is required.”

And they wonder why there is so much fly-tipping.

“On my trips to Spain it seems common (at least on housing estates) to have skips positioned at street corners for household waste & there is no house-to house collection. (such a thing would probably be widely abused in the UK)”

That has always seemed to me to be a great idea. As mentioned, the bins are emptied frequently (almost daily but at least five times a week). As you say, it wouldn’t work in the UK; they would be filled with mattresses and old furniture and set on fire every other day.

[bhg481]

NJ - shredding the cherry tree prunings reduced the volume greatly. If we kept all garden prunings for two years we'd need a much larger garden to be able to store them. We already compst most soft garden refuse but woody cuttings take far too long to rot down.

[New Judge]

"NJ - shredding the cherry tree prunings reduced the volume greatly."

Fair enough!  😀

[barry1010]

I've seen those big Spanish bins surrounded by old mattresses and other furniture, old bikes, cookers - every sort of rubbish you can imagine.  

[Ellipsis]

> keeping refuse bins on the frontages of houses

So much for kerb appeal ...

[barry1010]

Kerb appeal doesn't bother me too much - I can't see it where I spend most of my time at home, inside my house or in the back garden

[piggynose]

Barry 20.41, the Spanish binmen where ever I've lived in spain, seem to have a habit of emtyping those big bins at about 2.30am, consequently waking me up : (

[New Judge]

"I've seen those big Spanish bins surrounded by old mattresses and other furniture, old bikes, cookers - every sort of rubbish you can imagine."

You're quite right, barry. The difference is, in Spain (in my experience) the bin men just chuck it all in the truck. Here it would be left to fester, if the person who dumped it was traced they would be fined and the local authority would set up a new department to adminster the removal of the large items and another to administer the fines.  

"...the Spanish binmen where ever I've lived in spain, seem to have a habit of emtyping those big bins at about 2.30am,"

Yes, a real nuisance, piggy. They sometimes hold my taxi up on my way back from a night out!  🤣

[barry1010]

Yes, the Spanish binmen often woke me up in the middle of the night.

[davebro3]

they probably prefer to work nights cos it's too hot during the day

[barry1010]

Less traffic to contend with, too