European trend to recycling leads to mass shortage...

[ina]

European trend to recycling leads to mass shortage of wheelie bins in UK

http://www.independent.co.uk/environmen ... 84240.html

It's "let's blame the Germans" time again!

"First the sun-loungers, now colour-coded wheelie bins. The Germans and eastern Europeans are apparently responsible for a mass British shortage of the mobile plastic rubbish receptacle."

[Annpan]

Households in South Oxfordshire will have to wait three months to receive brown bins for garden waste.

Well, I don't have any recycling uplift facilities whatsoever and most of our street uses black bin bags... perhaps I should just give up altogether?



If only there were true injustices in the world to report on...

When we solve world hunger, cure all painful and needless disease and give everyone access to education and clean water I might just start worrying about people waiting 3 months for a brown wheelie bin.... oh no hang on... I won't.

[ina]

Oh yes... But, you see, Britain always likes to be at the forefront of all things environmental - I just think it's hilarious that they can't even get their supply of wheelie bins sorted! Why on earth do they have to be imported, anyway - can't somebody here in this country produce them? After all, nobody produces so much plastic that could be recycled into bins...

There's NO facility for recycling in our nearest village at all now; no central glass or plastic bins (because the neighbours complained about them ), and no pick up for recycling either (apart from paper).

[Ratty]

Perhaps I should pass on my next-door-neighbours address - he hoards wheely bins! Every other week when its non-recycling bin collection he puts out at least 2 full bins - one at either end of his property. It infuriates me! I believe he gets hold of them when people move out of council houses. Lovely.

[ina]

Perhaps I should pass on my next-door-neighbours address - he hoards wheely bins!

Is he German?

[Ratty]

No, just a scally!

[JulieSherris]

Did you know.....

Here in Ireland, we don't have Council Tax.... so we don't have a council-led garbage collection either.
We have various companies through the counties who operate collections & they generally have reasonable charges too - you get to choose the size of your bins, so if you need something larger, you can have it!

At the end of the year, you claim the tax back that you've paid out for rubbish collections too.

We have one black bin, but I buy a voucher when I want it collected & leave it out on the appropriate day.
We've done away with our recycle bin & I now recycle directly.
I am saving paper & card for fuel blocks, I take my tins & cans, glass, clothes, etc to the recycle bank when I go shopping & food scraps goes out for the birds/dogs/feral cats etc.

Although open bonfires are illegal here, we have a fireplace in the derelict where we can burn stuff that we don't want burning in the house, & I have to say that once you get used to thinking about the amount of rubbish you have, you do all sorts of things to reduce that amount!!

I like Ireland!!
Julie.

[Ratty]

That sounds brilliant to me Julie. I have recycled as much as I can since I moved out of home 15 years ago. Anything which isn't collected by the council (glass, tetrapaks, plastic bags, textiles) I recycled myself. I do find it unfair that we never ever fill a landfill wheely bin whilst the neighbours fill at least 2 of theirs! Yet we pay Council Tax and they are exempt because he signs on but works for himself under the radar!

[ina]

That sounds brilliant to me Julie. I have recycled as much as I can since I moved out of home 15 years ago. Anything which isn't collected by the council (glass, tetrapaks, plastic bags, textiles) I recycled myself. I do find it unfair that we never ever fill a landfill wheely bin whilst the neighbours fill at least 2 of theirs! Yet we pay Council Tax and they are exempt because he signs on but works for himself under the radar!

Ah well. Life wasn't supposed to be fair. Annoys the hell out of me, that kind of thing...

Julie's system seems to me the best I've heard about so far!

[JulieSherris]

When we decided to leave the UK & come to Ireland, we had to look closely at the financial implications - yes, we absolutely pay WAY over the top for most things in the shops -there are coach trips going to Northern Ireland T*sco - can save about 120euros a trip, apparently!

But hubby has worked out the general costings & because there's no council tax or water rates, & he can claim my tax allowance on his wages - we also claim the tax back on rent we pay - and once we move, we'll claim the tax back on the mortgage payments - well, if you add up all these savings & then consider that he works 9 of 14 days compared to 14 of 14 for the same wage with less PAYE & a few euros NI.... no comparison! (plus he pays LESS tax for his overtime rate - a bit different from the 40% he used to pay)

My youngest is in Blackpool with her 'new' wheelie bin - they are chipped now, too - and are charged accordingly if they are found to be 'overweight'...??????
She made a mistake a few weeks ago & popped some newspapers on the top of her black bag inside the bin.... so it wasn't emptied & she then had to wait for another 2 weeks, & had nowhere for her rubbish - does this wheelie bin nonsense not make you all sick?
Bring back the poll tax riots! (Although now they would be the Council Tax riots!!)

How on earth did the UK get to the point where bureaucracy is allowed to rule the day?
Each day I am reminded of reasons why we moved.... do you know how long it's been since I saw a baseball cap? Haha!

[eccentric_emma]

haha Julie, Ireland sounds great. Moving there is certainly something to think about!

But chipped wheely bins in Blackpool! Surely the council has better things to spend tax money on??

[JulieSherris]

Don't think that you're safe in the south either, Emma!
(Hi, by the way - I lived in Deal for 12 yrs before moving up to Blackpool & then across here :))

Here's a snip from the local rag reporting on the bin chips...

The tiny devices have been fitted in bins in Wyre and Fylde since July 2005 as part of a Recycling4Fylde&Wyre initiative and in grey bins in Blackpool since June 2005.
Bosses at Wyre Borough Council and Fylde Borough Council have admitted the hi-tech bins, which are not currently active, could be used to charge taxpayers for domestic waste if central government legislation to manage waste by weight is introduced.
But Blackpool Borough Council chiefs said they are only using the chips to monitor waste collection crews as well as helping track down stolen or dumped bins to return to their owner.
A spokesman said: "All of Blackpool's household bins are micro-chipped, and play an important role in the town's waste collection service.
"By collecting relevant data we can track the crews on the ground so we know exactly when they start and finish and which way they carry out the rounds. All this data is held on a protected server."
The pay as you throw revelation has caused a national furore and three councils in Britain are about to pilot the scheme.

So.......... nuff said.
Julie.

[ina]

If the system could be implemented "properly", i.e. you could rely on it not being misused, I would very much welcome it. I do think it's not fair that people who strive to recycle and refuse all the time should be paying as much for waste removal as their neighbours who just chuck everything in the bin and don't even think about saving stuff! I just don't think this system is going to work; you'd have to have lockable bins (otherwise your dear neighbours will just be chucking all their heavy stuff into yours); but then - will you have to stand by when it's collected to unlock it? I'd like to know how they are going to work it.

[marshlander]

Reasonable behaviour is beyond some people whatever you do! We like a over a mile from the village on a single track road yet someone has gone to the trouble of dumping a washing machine in the dyke. I've 'phoned the council who will come and get it but.... There has been a lot of talk about these bins and theories that if you make people pay they'll just fly tip - sadly this seems to be the case.