Bins to be emptied fortnightly, hygiene and waste.

[Gromit]

Most councils are set to adopt a system of empying bins fortnight. A collection of recycleables will now take place on the 'missed' week. There have been concerns about hygiene, but the government says it is not a problem. It is also revealled today (if it is to be believed), that the average household throws away a third of its food.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6456987.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6457165.stm

Are we too well off to bother about the the waste we produce, Is food too cheap? Are we ignorant? or selfish?, or do you have another take on it?

[libertie]

We have been having our bin emptied fortnightly since Christmas and I have to admit that I now try and recycle faithfully! I don't mind the new system as there are only two of us but one of my neighbours with three children is not too happy about it! The amount of food that we throw out is pretty disgraceful though!

[redcrx]

we've had ours emptied fornightly for about 4 years now. In the summer the bins stink, and at busy periods (xmas etc) if the bin is open because of extra bags pushing the lid up they refuse to empty it.

What annoys me is that our council are expecting to get us to recycle a third of our waste, they are very picky as to what they recycle too. Surely if its a third then the standard bin should be emptied on the first and second week and then the recycle on the thrid week to prevent overflowing bins.

if they dont empty a bin, we have to call and they then send out a second vehicle to collect it, what a waste of tax payers money that is.

[kwicky]

At the moment they empty our food waste bin weekly. This usually contains just a small bag of food as we don't waste much. By stretching this to a 2 week collection should hopefully lower the gigantic council tax bill.

[stokeace]

at the end of the day its a reduction in one of the services we pay council tax for.can you imagine the uproar if it was to be announced your local libary was to close every other week?

[Pippa68]

You can bet your bottom dollar the council tax will continue to rise, despite a reduction in services.

I live in a terraced house and a few years ago it was decided that the refuse collectors wouldn't be coming down the back alley to collect the rubbish anymore due to 'health hazards'. We have to either:

a) bring the rubbish through the house from the bottom of the garden

or

b) take the rubbish down the alley and round to the front of the house ourselves, despite a 'health hazard'

The alleyway is supposed to be maintained by each resident ~ basically we have to keep the piece of land in front of our back gate clear. I live at the end, and the piece we look after is concrete & clear of any mess. I have to wade through everyone elses sh1t to get to the front of my house...grrrrrrrrrrrrr. We do recycle, and we are allowed just one wheelie bin per household (purchased ourselves..no help there) I have a family of 6, while the bloke next door is single.

At the moment I can just about cope with the weekly collection ~ I dread to think what a fortnightly collection will do to the street as we already have problems with bags left outside..foxes & seagulls live very well round this way.

[Gromit]

Bet the bloke next door isn't too please either, He will be paying the same Council Tax and generating a 6th of the binnage you do.

[Pippa68]

Exactly Gromit ~ I didn't think any different to you! it is all unfair, and I would rather be paying more to have a decent service to accomodate my family and have the guy next door paying less..that would be fair enough to me. It seems madness that everyone is allowed just one bin, regardless of household size.

Obviously he gets a reduction in CT anyway as he is a pensioner and single ~ but my point is more about the refuse collection times itself rather than council tax payments.

[minimonkey]

do you actually know how much of your Council tax goes towards refuse collection? not very much at all - normally no more than a pound a week - so you could have 50quid a year back !!! think they might give me money back since i don't use schools or social services? probably not and it would be a damn sight more money than 50quid.

if the uk does not meet the landfill directive target for reduction of biodegradable waste to landfill then the EU passes down huge fines. defra will then fine each disposal authority �150 pre tonne of waste sent to landfill over the targets. the disposal authoritie pass it to the collection authorities and guess who they pass it to?? so this is a means to an end really and whilst you think its painful let me tell you doing nothing would be more painful. as to charging separately depending on how much waste you put out - it is being dicussed but i suspect that will cause even more uproar. this is so subjective and it doesn't matter what you do - people will ALWAYS complain..why don't we have recycling......why do we have to recycle....isn't is rediculous how much we waste......why are they reducing our bin capacities - no win situation really

[wired]

We too are used to having our bins emptied fortnightly. Food leftovers and trimmings I always freeze and put out on day of collection.
Yes, we do waste too much food but working full time and running a home does not make for easy economy of food.
One of the big problems of fortnightly bin emptying is the condition and type of waste, some people think that it is the council who should show responsibility for the increase in vermin , and not themselves for the way in which they dispose of waste.

[minimonkey]

couldn't agrre more wired

[minimonkey]

i meant agree!

[SHEHE]

We have had a fortnightly bin collection for about 15 years , 2 bins ,one for household waste , a green bin for cardboard and garden waste . Also the tins and papers are taken at the same time as the green bin collection . We take plastics and glass to the recycle bank , which is always busy. As for the bins smelling if you wash them out or use bin powder you shouldn't have a problem . Recycling is now second nature The local dump take all the bulky stuff and sorts it out. Give it a go , and try and save our planet.