Refuse Collections.

[JohnC6]

This didn't fit into any of the "W" threads..

Our refuse was collected yesterday .Last week it was just the small food bin so, like everyone else we had full recycle boxes. Most would have full wheelie bins,too.

We have new neighbours. They'd put out a wheelie bin that was emptied but they'd also put out a recycle box (plastics/tins) that was well over-filled and, in addition, a large clear plastic bag full of cans and plastics that sat on the grass verge by the wheeli bin. I didn't see any of this until I looked out of the front bedroom window about 1.00am so too late to knock on their door. I saw the chap bringing it all back off the verge at 9.30 am looking dejected so I went to him and had a chat about it. Our council will not empty any wheelie bin if the lid won't close ,any recycle box or paper/cardboard bag that overflows and nothing that isn't in one of their recycle boxes, food bins or the blue paper/cardboard waste bag. There's a recycle box, too for glass.

The neighbours are from Liverpool where,he tells me, they just have different coloured wheelie bins for general household waste, another for plastics /cans/glass/paper and another for garden waste.

He was happy for me to go through it with him. We removed drink cartons from the plastic/metal box (mainly drink cans and food cans) and bottles. He doesn't have a recycle box for glass so I gave him the council phone number to order one. They'll deliver it. I'll give him a couple of house bricks to put on top of the plastic lids for when it's windy. It's also good to remove the cap from plastic milk cartons and tread on them to flatten them,same with other cartons. You can get a lot more in the recycle box that way. That cheered him up...lol. Last week, I had to go to his food bin at 9.00pm as I put ours out the night before collection and take the top food bag off so that the lid closed and locked (re foxes) and push it down into our food box. They're quite small. That's all they collected last week. I did mention it to him for next time. I've asked our neighbour on the other side, who doesn't have a lot of waste cans/plastics if we could top up her box next week and she was fine with that. We'll have spare space in our, too.It will take a few collections to get him sorted but he was visibly relieved.

Is they way our council deal with collection the same all over ? I think they will take large cardboard flattened boxes not in the paper/cardboard bag on the collection day immediately after Christmas but anything after that left propped up against the boxes/wheelie bin will stay there. I use a serrated knife to cut up cardboard boxes , it's easier than trying to tear them with my hands, to fit in the blue bag.

The bin men must have had a dizzy spell when they saw my neighbour's waste yesterday morning

 

[woof woof]

Our binmen will take things left next to bins but we've never done that. Our council stopped using bags a long time ago though so if you have overspill you have to use your own bag.

Recently our paper caddy disappeared and when I phoned the council they told me they no longer use them and paper should just go in the recycling bin with the bottles and tins etc. This seems a backward step to me and must surely make recycling paper more difficult as it'll be mixed in with other stuff.

The biggest issue we have is that we're near a school and get a lot of school foot and car traffic and the Heffalump's either walking past or getting in and out of cars with their Heffalump offspring reguarly put their chocolate, sweet, crisp packets and sugary drink bottles and cans in our bins waiting to be emptied and we then get snotty notes from the binmen telling us to sort our waste properly. Thankfully we haven't been fined yet.

I do wonder how much real actually recycling takes place rather than landfill or export to be dumped in a field in Asia.

Our council is apparently considering charging for garden waste removal which irritates me as we get a large amount of leaves from the trees in the nearby school field.

 

[Box Brownie]

@JohnC6
Good egg for the neighbourly advice to the new arrival

As for us:-
Dark Grey bin for landfill waste

Green bin for all recyclables
(NB I make sure to read what the plastic bottles say on them and now all say "recycle with lid on" but like you I crush the bottles and replace the caps.......and break up all cardboard waste to reduce volume)

Brown bin for garden waste (we pay a few per bin and have two of these)

Small Grey bin for food waste (NB max capacity is 3 off the kitchen caddy filled liners)

Note ~ the likes of textiles and batteries are only accepted if bagged and labelled separately & to be placed next to or sitting on top of the wheelie bin(s)

When we were doing our hedge removal etc our neighbour said to feel free to add, as needed, to their minimally used Brown bin.

Edit~ we take care to make sure that where appropriate i.e. bottles & cans are washed out and left to air dry before putting into the recycling bin.

 

[cambsno]

Its all different - some you need plastic separate from card - others its all in one.

They have always taken mine that dont close properly

 

[Mr Bump]

i only have 2x wheely bins up near Huddersfield, black and green, black anything goes and green limited items for recycling, they will not take any other items we used to have a glass bin but they cancelled the scheme years ago which doesnt bother me as there is a glass bin only about 500 yards in cop-op car park and i just carry them arround in an old rucksack.

thing that p***es me about our bin men is they will check how full the bin is before emptying it and if less than half they leave it till next time (2 more weeks)

 

[Nod]

Like BB a couple of posts up, we have 3 bins (no garden waste bin - nextdoor is happy for use to put some stuff in hers if it's not full (we do a fair bit for her so it's her way to thank us.) Usually only one or two bags of rubbish but recycling is sometimes full. On the rare occasion it's overfull, we either keep it for the next collection or (if we're around at collection time) ask the bin men nicely if they'll take it. A few quid in the commercialmas box for them helps smooth the wheels!

 

[Box Brownie]

i only have 2x wheely bins up near Huddersfield, black and green, black anything goes and green limited items for recycling, they will not take any other items we used to have a glass bin but they cancelled the scheme years ago which doesnt bother me as there is a glass bin only about 500 yards in cop-op car park and i just carry them arround in an old rucksack.

thing that p***es me about our bin men is they will check how full the bin is before emptying it and if less than half they leave it till next time (2 more weeks)

Glass jars etc go in our green recycling bin.

They empty bins no matter how full, provided the lid is shut. Yes, we have put partially full bins out..

 

[ancient_mariner]

Well done for helping your neighbour.

Cherwell: we have a green coloured landfill/incinerator bin, brown garden waste bin and blue recyclables bin, plus a a food waste bin that goes for composting. Food waste is every week, general waste every 2 weeks and the other bins every 4 weeks alternating. Over-full bins won't be emptied. We have to pay for the garden waste collection bin and it needs a licence attached. Glass has to be taken to disposal points for recycling - there is no glass collection.

Some things are chargeable at the local council tip, and fly-tipping is becoming a real problem.

 

[lindsay]

We have three big wheelie bins: brown for garden waste (which they only collect between April and October but this year started charging £40/year for), green for recycling (all mixed together), black for everything else. No food waste bins, nothing for separating the recycling. I decided not to pay for the brown bin collection as we only need it emptied about 3 times a year, so I just take all my garden waste in bags to the tip myself now and then. We do sometimes have an over-full general waste (black) bin, so I sometimes decant a few kitchen bin bags into big black ones and take these to the tip myself also. We have a really useful waste recycling centre (tip) on the edge of town, about 2 miles away, so its a quick and easy journey, especially if I have any large metal or wooden things to get rid of. I get hugely annoyed with local people who put eg fridges, washing machines, unwanted furniture, outside their front gates for however long it takes for "private sector" persons to remove them. It's usually people who have several cars and a van in their drives who are just too lazy to do it themselves.

The irony is that we live in a big house and have plenty of space for multiple bins, yet some years back when we lived in Dawlish in a tiny mid-terraced house with no outside space, we had three bins, a food waste caddy and a paper/card crate, which all had to be kept in the kitchen, which was horrible.

 

[tarric]

It does seem every council has a different systems and rules, luckily our last 2 were pretty similar 3 wheelie bins like these with different coloured tops.
Although the colours have changed the system is similar the only difference being here we also have a food caddy that gets emptied weekly so doesn't get to smelly. Blue for paper and cardboard, orange for plastics and metal and the plain grey general waste which get emptied one a week on a three week cycle.
I've been other places that give you boxes and bags for various other containers for recycling and IMO they are just not fit for purpose.

 

[Cobra]

MK was the first area to "offer" road side recycling collections ( 1990 iirc)
We have recently switched from black bags for household waste,
clear sacks for recyclables except glass, that went into a blue box.
The green bin has been here more years than I can remember.

But now its 4 bins here
Black lid household waste ( in bags) (emptied weekly)
Blue lid most recyclables except (emptied alternate weeks)
Red lid paper and cardboard ( emptied alternate weeks)
Green bin, garden and food waste. ( emptied weekly)

They will not take anything not in a bin, ( there are a few minor exceptions, where a having a bin is not practical, but you have to apply for an exemption and have your property examined) nor will they empty a bin if the lid isn't properly shut.

 

[Box Brownie]

In regard to closed lids................I surmise that is related to the auto lifts and the way the tipping into the truck occurs, an semi open lid might mean that waste will drop out onto the road before it fully upends into the truck.

 

[Cobra]

In regard to closed lids................I surmise that is related to the auto lifts and the way the tipping into the truck occurs, an semi open lid might mean that waste will drop out onto the road before it fully upends into the truck.

That would be my guess too.
Except, I've seen the fore runners take small bags from one bin and put it into another,
the lid didn't close, but it was still collected

 

[cambsno]

In regard to closed lids................I surmise that is related to the auto lifts and the way the tipping into the truck occurs, an semi open lid might mean that waste will drop out onto the road before it fully upends into the truck.

Nope, mine are often ajar and no issues

 

[Cagey75]

All sounds similar to here in the Irish midlands, we have 3 wheelie bins, 2 large - Black for general, blue for recycle, and a smaller brown bin for food waste/compost. I've noticed some of our neighbours now have a 4th, for glass , we haven't got that one so a reminder for me to get on to Bord Na Mona on that one

On surplus waste, I know they will take extra recyclable stuffs, so long as you have it neatly bundled, I have tied up a stack of cardboard neatly in the past and left it by the recycle bin and they did take it.

On overflow, we have the same rule here, if the lid doesn't shut, they very well may not take it. They definitely won't if it's overflowing so much that the lid is almost flipped back!

One of our neighbours is an elderly woman who lives alone, when we moved in she told me that her recycle bin is rarely ever half full and that we could make use of it if we had surplus recyclables. I think I've only ever needed to take advantage of that offer one time, but nice of her to offer.

 

[admirable]

A few bottles of beer at this time of year goes a long way, They do remember!

 

[Steep]

Our council will not empty any wheelie bin if the lid won't close ,any recycle box or paper/cardboard bag that overflows and nothing that isn't in one of their recycle boxes, food bins or the blue paper/cardboard waste bag. There's a recycle box, too for glass.

Same here, the lid on any bin must close fully or they won't take it.

 

[Cagey75]

A few bottles of beer at this time of year goes a long way, They do remember!

When we had regular bin-men I would always give them a card with a few bob in, nowadays it's different guys every week. I do give the Postman and our most regular DHL driver a card with a few quid in though and they do go to extra length to look after our packages

 

[JohnC6]

When we had regular bin-men I would always give them a card with a few bob in, nowadays it's different guys every week. I do give the Postman and our most regular DHL driver a card with a few quid in though and they do go to extra length to look after our packages

I remember that when I was a kid (up north) my dad always gave the bin-men a tip at Christmas and the coal-men but we lived in a village and we knew them all. It was a job for life back then so the same crew. We had a postman here in Gloucester for a year but he was replaced. What I did during those very hot days last summer was to give postman/women and delivery drivers a bottle of sparkling water out of the fridge and they really appreciated that. It's hard work delivering, especially in 30C plus.

 

[dekeyboy]

I'm down on the south coast. We don't have bins at all at the moment, black bags for general and clear bags for recycling (paper, plastic etc). Every two weeks we have a bottle collection in a black bin, which is supplied by the council.

 

[robj20]

We have 4 bins, general waste which is a small black bin emptied every 3 weeks.
Blue paper bin emptied every 2 weeks, brown plastic and metal bin emptied every 2 weeks, and a pink bin for garden and food waste emptied every week.

They will also happily take said left next to the bins as long as it meets the category, they'll even take Christmas trees away.

 

[ecoleman]

No bins here but we are allowed 3 black bags for general waste collected every 3 weeks. It can be a push sometimes but mostly we manage with that. Sometimes I just buy big 90L bags and put 2 bags into one. They also collect a box with glass at the same time.

The council provide recycling bags but the quality of these gets worse and worse each year. We can put out as much recycling as we like, even stuff not in bags like folded cardboard boxes they will take as well, they collect that every week.

The problem that we have is by not having a bin and the recycling being so light if we get a windy night the street ends up with recycling all over the place and rubbish strewn all over where cars have come along and hit the bags scattering rubbish all over the place. A number of us have raised concerns to the council but they don't give a s***. Now we just call them up and tell them to send a team around to clear up the mess as we've had enough of going out every week in the winter to pick up rubbish.

 

[tikkathreebarrel]

Down here in Suffolk we have a black wheelie bin for general/dirty/unrecyclable waste and blue wheelie bin for all recyclables paper/card/plastic/metals. There is an optional brown bin for compostables for which there's an annual charge. I don't have one as we have compost bins at home.

There are bottle banks around the town, likewise clothes & shoe recycling banks. Wheelie bins are emptied on a fortnightly cycle, black bin one week, blue and brown the next week.

 

[boogie man]

We’ve got a black wheely bin for non recyclable waste and a green one for everything recyclable: glass, paper, cardboard, tins, plastics. These get emptied on alternate weeks. We can put big cardboard boxes, folded flat, out as well. The waste food caddy gets emptied weekly. There’s also a (chargeable) brown bin for garden waste that gets emptied fortnightly. I’m debating whether to kick that into touch as I bought a composting bin last year.

 

[andya700]

Here in Kent, we have large brown bin for garden waste, black bag (which gets torn apart by foxes, seagulls and magpies) for landfill, blue bag for paper/cardboard and white bag for plastics, tins and bottles. They haven't collected our village refuse this week due to some contractual dispute, so next week is going to be carnage.

 

[steveb]

I remember back to when all waste went into a metal dustbin lined with a black bag. Under Buckinghamshire Council we have 3 bins, a green one with a green lid for household rubish (collected every other week), a green one with blue lid for all recyclable items (collected every other week), and a small green food waste bin (collected every week). Also a brown garden waste bin with license attached (cost £55 per year) collected every 2 weeks, no collection in December or January.

Down in the South West my daughters food bin is only emptied every 2 weeks, not ideal in hot weather. My brother-law-law lives in Australia. His bins have to be arranged roadside so a truck can pull up along side to automatically grab and empty into the truck. No people involved other than a driver. No doubt internationaly there are many variations.

 

[Nod]

I remember back to when all waste went into a metal dustbin lined with a black bag. Under Buckinghamshire Council we have 3 bins, a green one with a green lid for household rubish (collected every other week), a green one with blue lid for all recyclable items (collected every other week), and a small green food waste bin (collected every week). Also a brown garden waste bin with license attached (cost £55 per year) collected every 2 weeks, no collection in December or January.

Down in the South West my daughters food bin is only emptied every 2 weeks, not ideal in hot weather. My brother-law-law lives in Australia. His bins have to be arranged roadside so a truck can pull up along side to automatically grab and empty into the truck. No people involved other than a driver. No doubt internationaly there are many variations.

Loads of different councils in the South West! It can even depend on which side of the road you live on as to which authority collect.
Our food bin gets dealt with every week, with refuse and recycling (and garden waste) being on alternate weeks. Our council even collect the coffee machine pods (almost) every week (I say almost because on a couple of occasions, the hopper has been full by the time they get here so I just bring the bags back into the garage until the next collection.

 

[mj4456]

Our council has issued 4 bins to us, Grey for waste paper, cardboard. Blue for landfill. Brown is garden and food waste, Green is tins and plastic. Bottles have to be taken to the bottle bank but luckily nearest is about 100yrd away tucked away in a nicely fenced area next to the bus turning point, extra plastic/tin bins are there plus a large steel box for clothing donations.

 

[JohnC6]

Our council has issued 4 bins to us, Grey for waste paper, cardboard. Blue for landfill. Brown is garden and food waste, Green is tins and plastic. Bottles have to be taken to the bottle bank but luckily nearest is about 100yrd away tucked away in a nicely fenced area next to the bus turning point, extra plastic/tin bins are there plus a large steel box for clothing donations.

Wouldn't it be useful if there was a national colour scheme. That would mean anyone going on holiday within the UK would know which bin was for which refuse. At least self-catering properties set out in their welcome pack what needs to go in which wheelie bin,box or bag. In SW Cornwall..Mullion/Lizard area I think it's only in the last few years there's been recycling unless someone on here in that area knows differently.

Ours don't mix food and green waste as yours does.. You'd think that garden waste would be a green wheelie bin throughout the country. I see your's is brown. We have a blue bag for cardboard and paper. We have a green box for glass.

 

[Box Brownie]

I wonder if the bin colours mix changes between local authorities to avoid "transfers" either accidentally(?) or purposely between areas

 

[ancient_mariner]

This seems appropriate from the funnies thread.

Schrödinger's skip

 

[JohnC6]

I wonder if the bin colours mix changes between local authorities to avoid "transfers" either accidentally(?) or purposely between areas

As you probably realise, Laurence, when someone poses a question like that I'm a digger

These two articles are the best I could find re addressing your question because all other articles just gave a national overview of the colouring and stating that whilst there is, in genera,l a commonality, they can differ.

Ever Wondered Why Wheelie Bin Designs Differ Across the UK

Ever Wondered Why Wheelie Bin DesignsDiffer Across the UK? Have you ever wondered why wheelie bins differ in design depending on where you are in the UK? Why are they not just all black or green? One reason is that collection systems and services differ between local authorities. Some councils...

www.wheeliebins.co.uk

True or not, I love this reason for bin colours in Liverpool. From the article: "In the city of Liverpool, the bins are purple, which many people say is a mixture of red and blue to represent the allegiance to Liverpool and Everton in the city"

The latest Defra numbers (2018) regarding household recycling shows that it's only 45.2% . I think that's quite poor.What do people do with it if it isn't recycled. Having said that ,when we went to see the seal pups in Norfolk (North Norfolk council area) there was only a green wheelie bin for garden waste and everything else went in to the grey bin. Logic dictates that should be the other way round.

Bin colours:

Recycling Bin Colours In The UK

In a world where we are all encouraged to Reuse, Reduce, and Recycle, recycling has become part of daily life, but with so many different recycling bin colours in the UK to choose from, the whole process can be confusing. Here we take a look at recycling&n

www.recyclingbins.co.uk

Just to round off, here's a breakdown of recycling rates.

In numbers: How much waste is produced in the UK – and how much is recycled? - edie

As part of edie’s Circular Economy Week 2022, we take a look at the official facts and figures about how much waste is generated each year in the UK, and outline recycling rates for waste streams including plastics.

www.edie.net

Btw. I was very pleased that I managed to sort out and have collected this morning all our neighbour's household waste using our spare capacity and the neighbour's on the other side. I thought it would take a couple of collections. Surprising what you can get in a recycle box by stamping on...lol.. plastic milk cartons ,soft drinks cartons and cans. I've ordered them a recycle box for glass..english isn't their first language so it's much easier if I did it .I filled our recycle box for glass with their empty bottles and jars and wrote out for them what goes in which bin. That should have sorted it out once and for all.

 

[Box Brownie]

As you probably realise, Laurence, when someone poses a question like that I'm a digger

These two articles are the best I could find re addressing your question because all other articles just gave a national overview of the colouring and stating that whilst there is, in genera,l a commonality, they can differ.

Ever Wondered Why Wheelie Bin Designs Differ Across the UK

Ever Wondered Why Wheelie Bin DesignsDiffer Across the UK? Have you ever wondered why wheelie bins differ in design depending on where you are in the UK? Why are they not just all black or green? One reason is that collection systems and services differ between local authorities. Some councils...

www.wheeliebins.co.uk

True or not, I love this reason for bin colours in Liverpool. From the article: "In the city of Liverpool, the bins are purple, which many people say is a mixture of red and blue to represent the allegiance to Liverpool and Everton in the city"

The latest Defra numbers (2018) regarding household recycling shows that it's only 45.2% . I think that's quite poor.What do people do with it if it isn't recycled. Having said that ,when we went to see the seal pups in Norfolk (North Norfolk council area) there was only a grey wheelie bin for garden waste and everything else went in to the grey bin. Logic dictates that should be the other way round.

Bin colours:

Recycling Bin Colours In The UK

In a world where we are all encouraged to Reuse, Reduce, and Recycle, recycling has become part of daily life, but with so many different recycling bin colours in the UK to choose from, the whole process can be confusing. Here we take a look at recycling&n

www.recyclingbins.co.uk

Just to round off, here's a breakdown of recycling rates.

In numbers: How much waste is produced in the UK – and how much is recycled? - edie

As part of edie’s Circular Economy Week 2022, we take a look at the official facts and figures about how much waste is generated each year in the UK, and outline recycling rates for waste streams including plastics.

www.edie.net

Btw. I was very pleased that I managed to sort out and have collected this morning all our neighbour's household waste y using our spare capacity and the neighbour's on the other side. I thought it would take a couple of collections. Surprising what you can get in a recycle box by stamping on...lol.. plastic milk cartons ,soft drinks cartons and cans. I've ordered them a recycle box for glass..english isn't their first language so it's much easier if I did it .I filled our recycle box for glass with their empty bottles and jars and written out for them what goes in which bin. That should have sorted it out once and for all.

Thanks for the digging

FWIW at least one injection moulding company I used to supply hot stamping foils to made wheelie bins....though not too sure but I think they used their 200tonne machine for such large pieces!

And at tangent the other extreme was a company that specialised in making parts for the aerospace industry and their smallest moulder was a <1tonne to make the template 'forms' for casting jet engine turbine blades......................a very diverse industry

 

[onomatopoeia]

(smaller sized) Black bin for non-recyclables, collected once a fortnight but it takes me a month to quarter fill a black rubbish bag so that doesn't go out often,
Two green boxes without lids for paper, glass, tins, cardboard. They don't seem to mind if the carboard sticks way out of the box as long as it starts there, so disposing of the packaging for a 50" telly was fine. Collected weekly
canvas bag for plastics collected weekly
Food bin collected weekly. I don't use this as I compost.

There are also chargeable green waste collections with a green bin, but I take mine down the tip*. I used to take it to a composting site accessed through the car park of the council leisure centre, but they started putting barriers up so you could only drop off when voluteers were in place, so it all goes to the tip* now.


* by "tip" I mean "Sort-It recycling centre" as it is known in local government political speak.

 

[Raincloud]

I remember the good old days when bin men would lift up heavy metal bins and carry and empty into bin truck! Nothing was too much trouble for them.

Our council dont use different bins. We just use different coloured plastic bags!

 

[Cagey75]

I remember the good old days when bin men would lift up heavy metal bins and carry and empty into bin truck! Nothing was too much trouble for them.

Our council dont use different bins. We just use different coloured plastic bags!

Only they all ended up with busted backs! I know a few old school bin and coal-men who are suffering bad now because they were so 'hardy'

 

[JohnC6]

I remember the good old days when bin men would lift up heavy metal bins and carry and empty into bin truck! Nothing was too much trouble for them.

Our council dont use different bins. We just use different coloured plastic bags!

I'm surprised plastic bags are used as foxes can easily tear them open hoping for something scrummy.

Keith has a good point re damage caused to the backs of the binmen in the old days. Same with those delivering the Co-op coal..

 

[Cobra]

I'm surprised plastic bags are used as foxes can easily tear them open hoping for something scrummy.

That was the main "Reason" we went to bins.
Had the majority of people washed out food wrappings and tins like they were supposed to, we wouldn't have wasted around £3m on bins.
I never had a bag ripped open, neither did any of my neighbours, save one, who claimed that they never washed out any type of food packaging.

 

[ecoleman]

That was the main "Reason" we went to bins.
Had the majority of people washed out food wrappings and tins like they were supposed to, we wouldn't have wasted around £3m on bins.
I never had a bag ripped open, neither did any of my neighbours, save one, who claimed that they never washed out any type of food packaging.

Whilst I’m more than happy to sort out rubbish into appropriate bins, I do draw the line at washing my rubbish.

Saying that we don’t have wheelie bins and not had any issues with foxes, even though we are fairly rural.

 

[Cobra]

Whilst I’m more than happy to sort out rubbish into appropriate bins, I do draw the line at washing my rubbish.

Food tins and food packaging for recycling should always be washed out, that was a directive from the council, when we started road side collections,
for recycling around 1990.
How long does it take to wash out a tin of beans or bacon wrappings, while you are washing up, or rinsing out while you are rinsing other stuff for the the dishwasher? less than 2 mins.