Archive for the ‘Bin Collection’ Category

Rubbish on the Streets

Thursday, January 6th, 2011

The streets of the UK are awash with rubbish at the moment. So many areas, from Birmingham to Exeter, Milton Keynes to Thame, mountains of rubbish remains uncollected – some areas not having a collection for over a month.

Caused by the winter weather disruption and council strikes, the waste is becoming a problem in many areas, attracting vermin and providing an unsightly hazard for residents. And many home-owners are feeling rightly aggrieved at having paid their council tax bills, while the local authorities are failing to provide the services they have been paid to do.

Waste left on the streets can cause a myriad of problems. Not only is it unsightly, with mountains of bin bags dumped on corners, but it can have further consequences too. Vermin is attracted to rubbish and many of the uncollected bin bags are ripped open as cats, foxes and even rats scavenge for food.

And while many areas now have wheelie bins, these barely have enough space for one weeks worth of rubbish, let alone a months worth, with the result being bin bags piling up on the streets next to the packed wheelie bins.

While councils have promised to clear the streets of rubbish over the next few weeks, many local authorities may suffer in the forthcoming local elections as disgruntled residents mark their protests in the ballot box.

And with more and more rubbish being collected each year, this is a problem that may soon become common, especially as Coalition cuts may generate more strikes and forecasters suggest harsher winters may be more frequent in the future.

But what can house-holders do to help alleviate the problem? Well one way is to ensure you recycle as much as possible. If you don’t already own any its perhaps a good time to buy recycling bins. By recycling we can drastically reduce much of the waste we throw away and its not just the obvious paper and glass that can be recycled too.

Metal, plastic bottles (in some areas) and food waste can all be recycled rather than thrown away in the rubbish bin. As recycling bins tend to be colour coded, they are simple and easy to use, taking little getting used to.

By using recycling bins you can drastically reduce the waste you throw away and can help prevent the build up of waste that is now littering our streets.

 

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Coping with Christmas Rubbish and Waste

Thursday, December 23rd, 2010

While Christmas is a period of giving and receiving, with retailers experiencing the busiest time of the year, it is also a period when we throw far more rubbish out than at any other time. Rubbish bins are often full to bursting at this time of year as we all throw out packaging, cards, Christmas trees and food.

All this can be a bad time for the environment, as much of what we throw away ends up on landfill sites. But there are ways of recycling your Christmas rubbish and cutting down on what you throw away.

Christmas Trees

Every year nearly ten million Christmas trees are bought and disposed of each year, many of which are simply thrown away into the rubbish bin; however, Christmas trees are easy to recycle and provide useful materials such as wood chippings.

Many councils offer a collection and recycling service for Christmas trees but failing that, most household recycling centres will have somewhere for trees to be recycled.

Packaging and Gift Wrapping

Thousands of tonnes of wrapping paper is also thrown away each year. Sadly, the majority of gift wrapping cannot be recycled as the ink and sticky tape that covers it is too difficult to remove. You could of course look for better alternatives to the coloured wrapping paper, or try and reuse it rather than just throw it in the waste bin.

Excess packaging is also a problem at this time of year, and many people are now being careful of the products they buy are not full of excess packaging. Fortunately, a lot of it can be recycled so make sure you use the recycling bin and not just dump it in the dustbin.

Christmas Cards

Nearly a billion Christmas cards are bought and sent each year and many of these cards can easily be recycled, so again, use the recycling bins, not the dustbin.

Food Waste

While most of us eat and drink a little too much at Christmas, we also throw away tonnes of unwanted food. Try and buy less this year but if you do end up with too much food think of other ways of getting rid of it such as composting rather than just dumping it in the rubbish bin.

Recycling bins are inexpensive and look great

Recycling bins are inexpensive and look great

All kinds of recycling bins are available for around the home and if you have not got one yet, look around, especially on the internet, as you may be pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to find low cost recycling bins.

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Bin Collections

Friday, November 26th, 2010

Collecting the rubbish bins is probably one of the most important services your council provides, as well as one of the least celebrated. Refuse collection isn’t the most glamorous job in the world, but it is vital and can instantly cause problems if it isn’t done – just ask the people of Leeds, who were affected by a long bin strike over proposed pay reductions in 2009.

It’s worth knowing your rights and what you can expect when it comes to bin collections, so you can raise the issue with the relevant authorities if the duties aren’t carried out.

Firstly, all councils operate a weekly refuse collection to pick up the rubbish from your main bin. You’ll be able to find details about what day your bin is due to be picked up from your council’s website. They also operate recycling bin collections at varying intervals: some councils will pick up your paper recycling once a fortnight, while others will do it once a month. This often depends on the size of bin they’ve provided you with.

If your bin is missed off the collection round, then you should get in touch with the council to let them know to make sure it was a genuine oversight and that your rubbish gets picked up as soon as possible.

It’s also worth knowing that a lot of councils operate rules that stipulate they won’t collect any bin that doesn’t have its lid properly shut, and you can be subject to fines and repeat refused collection if you don’t remedy the situation. There are a couple of reasons for this: firstly, it’s a way of getting you to reduce the amount of rubbish you put out (and so, in theory, you’ll be recycling more) and secondly, it’s for hygiene reasons. Keeping your bins tightly shut stops any bad smells from escaping and reduces the chances of rubbish falling out or rats getting in.

You should also check out who is responsible for supplying the refuse bin: often the council will provide you with the bin, but this isn’t always the case. If the council give you a bin and it gets lost or stolen, you should report it straight away. If it’s your own bin and it gets stolen, then it’ll be up to you to sort it out, although you can get advice from the council on how to secure your bin against theft.

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