General Chat

It was bin day today.
They collected the garden bag around 09:30, and the general rubbish bin around 11:30.
If I was at work, my bin wouldn't be brought in until about 18:00.
I was upstairs, cleaning a windowsill, at about 16:10, when I saw 2 men in hi-viz jackets, walking in the middle of the road (so must be important in their minds). They then proceeded to scurry from one side of the road to the other, taking the house/bin number of the bins still out!!!
I have to admit, mine was still out.
I have no idea why they were taking notes, and wonder at the relevance of people not being around to take in their bins after 11:30, and before 16:00 - most bins are in by 19:00, but if I receive a 'reprimand' from some twonk, they will, in return, receive a wordy tome asking if this pair were employed as voluntary time wasters!! :-|

be careful Maggie they could have been looking to see who was home for burglary,there are many unsrcupulous people pretending to be someone important.
and at this time of year more so.
i would phone the council to check.

wendy(lincs)

Ooer Wendy, I never thought of that!!!
I'll contact them tomorrow.

The bin men used to come around at the crack of doom, which meant bins could be in before we went to work.

we have bin police, and they're tough!

A few months ago everyone got a "green" bin, with instructions on what was to go in it, and the two other bins (garbage & recycle). A small supply of compostable bags was also supplied with the new bin.

2nd week........ we used the wrong bag....... a "decomposing" bag....... and got a note from the BP........ if we do that again, they won't pick up ANY of our bins. I'd like to see them try....... we pay for that!

Last week, friends got a note........ the small branches they put in the green bin weren't small enough! They have to be cut into 30cm lenghs (about 1ft). And again... if they do it again, their bins won't be picked up! They said they won't put them in the green bin... from now on they'll go in the garbage!

How do I get a job as a bin inspector?

I caught part of a programme on this sort of thing a while ago. Yes, there are folk who go round checking on the contents of bins to make sure that we are putting the right stuff in the right bin.

I'm not sure how they choose the areas to target but I saw them having a word with the householder about using the correct bins.

Possibly it has something to do with the where the bins end up.......it must be pretty awful if someone is putting food waste into say, the paper bin, or possibly putting stuff in which can break the recycling machinery.

Have to admit that I am careful to put everything into its allotted bin and that I keep my bins clean - smelly bins make me heave.......yuk.

One of the reasons is for the recycling bins. Recycling is used to keep council tax down, if anything not on the particular council's recycling list is put in the recycling bin it can contaminate the whole truck load. Our council published a list of the wrong things found in recycling, it included things like disposable nappies. All our recycling is mixed in one wheelie bin, it is then sorted after collection by an automated procedure.

We have food waste bins as well as recycling, garden waste and general rubbish (for land fill). Our food waste is processed for energy, garden waste is composted on a large scale.

Our council recycles: card/cardboard, newspaper, other paper (including non metallic wrapping paper), plastic bottles, glass jars and bottles, yoghurt pots, food containers (meat, veg from the supermarket), foil, metal tops from jars. Our recycling bin is usually full and th general rubbish half empty. both collected alternate fortnights.

I can understand them checking full bins - but these were empty - just waiting to be taken in.
As the rubbish had been picked up at 11:30, and they were looking at 16:10, it seems pointless, as, if a person was at work - their bin would be out until they arrived home!
Also, we've never been told bins have to be in by a certain time, just that they're not to be kept permanently on the pavement.

I spoke to a very nice lady at the council today. She's contacted the department responsible (if it is 'official') They will get back to me within 3 days.
We also discussed 'jobsworth' neighbours - those who presume what they do is 'right', so everyone else should follow suit. A prime example is my neighbour- he has a concrete garden - breezeblock squares for the odd plant - no wildlife, and my garden's a 'disgrace' - shrubs everywhere, undergrowth, sloworms. But especially 'disgraceful' is the pile of branches (that can't be seen from the road, so who's been snooping?), and actually has hedgehogs under it. BUT the whole street has apparently complained about it.
No they haven't. I've been here 25 years, no-ones complained to me once, so I asked them :-D
They had some choice words to say about the 'perfect' family - been here 2 years :-D :-D :-D

Lol - so they aren't 'targeting' just you? :-D

Going off 'bin' topic, but relevant to complaints to the council.....

A colleague lives in a thatched cottage in a rural village. They had a letter from the council to say that there were complaints that they had allowed their verge and garden foliage to overgrow the narrow pavement.
They thought that it wasn’t too bad, but spent a long weekend cutting-back & tidying it up.

3 weeks later they had another letter saying that they ‘hadn’t complied’ and threaten dire consequences. After several heated phone calls to the council, it transpired that the complainant had provided the wrong address. The house in question was opposite theirs and did have an extremely over-grown hedge and dilapidated fence!

Makes me wonder Who pays Who,do the Council pay us for the waste ? (WHICH THEY SELL ON) or do we pay them with our rates to provide this service? Our green bin is an extra payment ,its collected every two weeks and is pretty good.its time the voices of the ratepayers was heard and listened to.not ignored.**M**. :-| :-|

I wouldn't think the council makes a profit from the waste they can sell. It will just help to defray some of the cost of collecting it.

Councils are fined substantially if they send too much to landfill, which is the main incentive for them to promote recycling.

Maybe it was just 'hug a bin' week.

Dermot,

Jeremy is not Mad Mick. What's happened? :-D :-S

Our bins are collected by a French transnational company, Veolia

Like most of our services here, they are out sourced :-|

The refuse guys flip the lids and check the contents before it goes into the truck. They only take a glance as fishing around inside is against H&S regs


A few years ago we had a letter (from the council) to say we must replace our boundary wall, if we didn't, the council would undertake the work and bill us. No way was I having the subcontractor 'Kier' (a Danish company) doing the work.......hopeless

Don't we have any British companies that our local authorities can contract to :-|

The Secret Bin Police were just looking for Jeremy Corbyn's bin. :-D

(That's the best I can conjure up on this dark, drizzly Friday evening,)

We have three bins, garbage, recycle & green.

We've always used the bins correctly, so we were a wee bit annoyed to get the reprimand because the bag we used wasn't acceptable. It was one of those bags that breaks down in landfill........ I've used them outside for various things, and they've broken up within a few weeks. I guess they're not acceptable in the machine that takes "green" like branches & food scraps.

We have to buy the "green" bags, and they're not cheap.

Recycle & green bins are collected weekly, garbage fortnightly (there's usually very little in our garbage bin).

Well, thank you, Wendy for putting that seed of doubt in my mind!! :-D

The council phoned this morning. Checking bins isn't one of their 'initiatives', neither is it anything to do with their contractors. I was advised to contact the local police team, and the e-mail has just been sent! :-D :-D :-D

My son, who works for a recycling arm of the council invariably "pokes his nose" into our bins, to make sure there is no " incriminating material," obvious.

you HAVE seen those documentaries regarding ID fraud? etc......?? surprising what can be gathered from a parcel label.........or a utility bill.....discarded mail, how many people living at an address...........and so on........

Bob

"our lot" will confiscate bins left out too long, too often.........

These were empty bins, Bob, and the bins had only been emptied that morning.
They weren't looking in them, just noting down something.

Scary maggie then.