Recycling and the vagaries between Councils.

I have three bins in my kitchen, one for general rubbish, one for hard plastics, bottles, tins, paper and card which all go in the same wheelie bin in my Council. Then I have a soft plastics bin and take that to M&S or the local Co-op where there are collection bins.

I bring home recycling from my sister's, as her Council doesn't take some items. We are trying to be responsible citizens, but until the big companies stop using some containers and packaging the problems won't be resolved.

Far too many companies have 'Not yet recyclable' or 'Do not recycle at home' on their packaging.

And @winterwhite - we have one of the highest council charges. Apparently kerbside recycling of glass and “non-bottle” plastic (🙄) is too expensive. It’s more environmentally friendly to use a car to take it several miles to the recycling centre 🤷🏻‍♀️

Our local council contract used to be
a) general rubbish
b) paper (not card)
c) plastics, glass, tin cans and card
d) garden/floral and uncooked vegetable type waste.
It was easy. One week they collected general waste and the next week everything else.

They have changed contracts to one which generates more income for the council and which costs less (they say).

It is very much more complicated though and involves many more separate containers. It also involves a bag for cardboard which is very hard to deal with. There is no help for the elderly and infirm in the flattening of boxes and manipulating them into the enormous-but-still-too-small bag. Lots of people have to leave then out in the hope of rain when they'll be soggy enough to fold!
I spoke to the council about the new system and they said they have found less overall recycling but of "better quality" so worth more.
The "general waste" goes to an incinerator to generate energy.

I expect lots of councils are having this debate.

Up here the green bin is for general waste and the grey bin is for recycling. They only take paper, lightweight card, cans and plastic bottles (wonderful animation on the council website about what constitutes a bottle 🤣) No glass, no food waste and garden waste (strictly not kitchen waste) is extra.
When my daughter stays I have to police the bins because, in every council she’s lived since leaving home, glass, kitchen waste and most plastic has been recycled so she automatically pops it in the bin. (She recycles in green and puts waste in grey which is more logical than our council policy)

MrsKen33

Someone walking past put a used cigarette packet in our garden waste bin. It wasn’t emptied by the bin man but had an enormous Contaminated’ sticker placed on the front.
The man from the council could not have removed said packet, could he?

To be fair though, that isn’t his job is it? If he removed every incorrect item from every bin, where would he put them?

If it’s a garden waste bin lorry, then there would be nowhere to put a recycling item such as the cigarette packet.

I’ve no idea what the bin men are paid, but it’s not the most appealing job. Out in all weathers, very early starts, (soon after 6am with us), and handling bins that aren’t all as they should be.

I can sympathise with passers by chucking stuff in your bin though. Dog poo bags come to mind.

Would be interesting to see whether the areas with the most restrictive collection rules reflect this in lower CT charge since they may have a cheaper contract for disposal.

Someone walking past put a used cigarette packet in our garden waste bin. It wasn’t emptied by the bin man but had an enormous Contaminated’ sticker placed on the front.
The man from the council could not have removed said packet, could he?

Chestnut

I agree it's all pretty pointless while shops continue to sell drinks in plastic bottles. Especially water. Drinks manufacturers need to take responsibility for the damage they are doing.

We have to take responsibility for what we buy. If we didn't, they would soon change their ways.

My mother's local authority provided two large wheelie bins, one for rubbish and one for all recycling. They were emptied on alternate weeks and the simplicity of the system meant that everybody recycled.

Milest0ne

We have to get in our car and take our refuse to our bins 1/4 mile away. We found some bins were not emptied as they has the "wrong" coloured bags in and a notice asked for £75 for a special collection. There were even heavy duty black bags in the paper recycling bin with the writing on top saying paper and cardboard only. Bins aren't emptied if they have loose dog poo bags in. We could not monitor the bins being so far from our houses.

Our council provide both household recycling bins and larger bins for the wider community. The community bins take cardboard only but the household bins take mixed paper and cardboard.

We have a black bin for general waste, food bin for kitchen waste and all recycling goes in a plastic (???) bag supplied by the council.

We have to get in our car and take our refuse to our bins 1/4 mile away. We found some bins were not emptied as they has the "wrong" coloured bags in and a notice asked for £75 for a special collection. There were even heavy duty black bags in the paper recycling bin with the writing on top saying paper and cardboard only. Bins aren't emptied if they have loose dog poo bags in. We could not monitor the bins being so far from our houses.

We pay three times for bin collection. There is an annual charge then a per lift charge and finally all waste is weighed at the truck and you are charged a rate per kilo depending on the nature of the waste.

When we managed a Working Men’s Club we had different coloured glass bins to reflect the different coloured bottles we recycled. My husband religiously recycled the bottles by colour until one day the Council arrived and simply emptied the bins together in the same place in the bin motor. Needless to say he didn’t bother segregating the bottles again.

Our bins are green general, black garden, and blue recycling but only paper tins and cardboard. Glass we have to take to tip. It would be great if we had a nationwide scheme we could all follow. A few years ago each property had small “discs” fitted on all our bins - they can’t be seen as under the lip but I’m not sure the reason why. I’ll do some research but can only guess weight? Anyone know?

I must admit I recycle very little plastic. I am very confused as to what I can recycle. I spend ages studying plastic packaging/bottles to find If recyclable but nearly always no information.
Some symbols I thought meant items were recyclable in fact mean item is made of recyclable materials.

I agree it is confusing. Information on our council website differs from the list ( yes /no )stuck on the inside of the blue recycling bin. If in doubt, leave it out, is my motto but DH puts all hard plastics in. Aldi take soft plastics and their list includes cat food pouches, which are semi-soft.
Another annoyance is the different coloured bins in different authorities. Our council has blue recycling, black landfill and green garden waste if you pay £40 pa.
Glass has to be taken to a bottle bank.

Our council pretty much only recycles card, paper and plastic bottles. It won't accept other plastics like yogurt pots as the council next to us does. You pay extra for garden waste which is only for garden cuttings, not veg peelings. My son's council has about 5 different bins so well served for recycling.
Unfortunately our Council owns part of the Waste Collection Service so as dire as it is, I can't see them changing contractors.

I agree it's all pretty pointless while shops continue to sell drinks in plastic bottles. Especially water. Drinks manufacturers need to take responsibility for the damage they are doing.

Only PET plastic bottles are worth recycling, and not if they have contained oil or shampoo, washing liquid, shower gel, etc.

Recycling most plastics makes no sense at all and is hugely costly in 100s of ways. We must just give it up.

Did you watch tonight on the News- the huge swathes of 1960s and 70s landfill sites being eroded into the sea, with tons of plastics?

There is a useful website called recyclenow.com You put in your postcode and it will tell you if you can recycle specified items.

It’s the garden waste that annoys me. It is strictly garden waste here, no uncooked veg peelings even though they compost as well as anything in the garden. I grew peas last year. If I sit outside and shell them as soon as picked, presumably garden waste, if I take them into the kitchen and subsequently shell them there, presumably kitchen waste. Madness!
We don’t have a food waste bin collection.

Soft plastic can be taken to Tescos for recycling.

You are wrong about the simplicity of the plastics, Chestnut - at least you are in my area!