Talking Rubbish

[#1]

From accepting green plastic garden waste sacks each week, here in Carmarthenshire they have now introduced a yearly charge of £50 for a service that will only run for eight months of it. In addition to that we will now have to use one of those green 240 litre wheeled contraptions..... which now means a bin for garden waste, a bin for recycled paper and plastic, a bin for general household waste and a bin for food waste. 

Four bins when we used to have one - which is all well, good and environmentally noble but crikey, where are we supposed to keep the damned things! 

Anybody remember these being collected? 

[#2]

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@Minivanman wrote:

Anybody remember these? 

Remember? I have one in the garden...

Though it was previously used (by the uncle's landlord) for burning stuff in, probably garden waste ironically...

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[#3]

Our neighbour has one as well - should have said "anybody remember these being collected" 

Now edited

[#4]

I do remember that too, back in the days when binmen actually earned their money rather than just wander down the street with an iphone to their face slinging bins toward a hook and pushing a button and then vaguely throwing the bin back to near where it originated...

[#5]

They introduced a similar charge around these parts. Had to purchase the bin at £30 then pay £47.50 for 11 months of collections (none from mid-December to mid-January).

If you cancel the 'subscription' they will reclaim the bin which I think is unfair, They could use the £30 as a deposit. Also, if you joined the scheme mid year there was no pro-rata payent allowed.

I stopped using the service after one year as was cheaper to take the bags to the local council dump three or four times year.

[#6]

I, too, remember them collecting those metal bins. Then we had a plastic one along side with the metal one to be used only for hot ashes.

Any larger items left by the bin were taken for a 50p tip. and they usually got a £1 Xmas tip along with the postman and the milkman.

No way would I tip the bin-men these days

[#7]

I think they do a similar thing round here, but I have a free solution, I put all the clippings, trimmings and cuttings into a big pile in one corner, and leave it, after a while, it becomes soil to put back on the garden, all for free...

[#8]

Tried that one. In fact we had two compost bins and would the waste rot down? Not on your nelly mate.

Kiddie next door now uses them to house her rabbits. Just leaves the bottom door off during the day..... perfect!  

[#9]

I don't have a bin, it's literally a pile, down the side of the back shed, doesn't need anything other than rainwater...

[#10]

I too remember those metal bins, mines a wormery now for my fishing.

[#11]

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@Minivanman wrote:

Tried that one. In fact we had two compost bins and would the waste rot down? Not on your nelly mate.

Kiddie next door now uses them to house her rabbits. Just leaves the bottom door off during the day..... perfect!  

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Never had that problem, branches and similar stuff go through the shredder first then mixed with grass cuttings and other stuff rots down in about 6 months if kept damp.

As for bins they charge £45 for a new bin and £30 to collect garden waste, paid it last year simply to get rid of stuff that would take years to rot down such as very thick branches and cuttings off leylandi trees which oozes sap when cut and sticks like glue to everything. no intention of paying it for next few years everything will go in the compost heap.

[#12]

On reflection I think the reason mine failed to rot down effectively was because both bins were in the shade. They had plenty of worms in it and such like but never seemed to get beyond a few inches of compost at the bottom with the result that we finished up with those two bins chock full, left for two years, and with no progress. As for a compost heap, with such a small garden we just do not have the space..... which is why we had those bins.

Ah well, we try these things but at the end of the day garden waste you cannot get rid off will just go out with the normal rubbish - and that was suggested by the bin man!

I just don't get it. Folks pay their council tax for this sort of thing and then they try and charge you extra. 

[#13]

The good old days. On bin collection day all we had to do was make sure our back gate was open so the bin man could walk round and empty our tin bin into his.

Around here they added a recycle bin charge a couple of years ago. I've only seen one around here. Everyone else just chucks an extra black bin bag in their normal bin every so often.

When the recycle bin first appeared it was trumpeted that it would save the council money. We were told how bags of compost would be sold and that the council would also save money using this compost on their own gardens.

What a crock it all turned out to be.

[#14]

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@twocvbloke wrote:

..after a while it becomes soil to put back on the garden, all for free.

I tried that for a few years.

The garden was 2 steps down from the back door, now it's 3 steps up from the back door.

Seriously, most of my garden is grass and doesn't take kindly to having rotting vegetation spread over it. Apart from that it's not user friendly.

I use the council green bin service and every time they come to empty the bin it is full to the brim and pressed down.

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[#15]

Where I live in Milton Keynes, home of the UK's first recycling collections, we have two rolls of sacks per year, one black which is used for household waste and one pink which is used for recycled paper, plastic, tins, foil, clothing, shoes. We also have a blue box for glass waste.

About 15 years ago the council also introduced a green wheelie bin for garden and food waste and charged an annual fee of £15.

Moving on to the present day and the council stopped charging for the wheelie bins as they were making fat profits from the waste collected. However, now the council wants to reinstate the charge and double it to £30 per year to collect our garden waste! Talk about greedy!! So not only are they making a nice fat profit from our waste they also want to charge us for that privilege! 

No doubt this can only go one way and fly tipping will once again become commonplace as will putting garden waste in black rubbish sacks. Let's see the council turn a profit then shall we!