Recycling farce.

[Scully]

Workmates wife is up in arms at our local council. She just happened to be looking out of her bedroom window yesterday morning and saw a council employee taking a photograph of her full recycling bin on her drive. She opened the window to ask what he was doing, to which he replied that he couldn't collect her bin from her drive as it contravened council H&S conditions which didn't allow him to walk on her drive.

She thought he was joking but no, he was deadly serious and was taking the photo as proof of where the bin was and the reason he had left it. Mates wife came down stairs and carried the small bin to the worker on the kerbside where he emptied it before returning handing it out to her.

She was so disgusted she told him to take it away as she wouldn't be needing it anymore and didn't want it cluttering up her garden.

Last year she had on one occasion left four bin bags stacked on the pavement and one was still there when she got home. After calling the office to ask why they had left one she was told that they were unable to collect more than three unless prior arrangement had been made with the collection office.

Pointing out that a few doors away in a cul de sac the people who lived there piled all their bags on the street corner didn't seem to make any difference to her predicament. So now if she has more than three she just throws the extra one onto the pile with all the others on the corner.

Is it me?

[felly100]

No,it's her!

[Davyo]

Didnt empty mine last Friday because the lid was 1inch open.It only needed a conflake box squashing,but thats probably a H&S issue.£150 a month to get my bin emptied every two weeks the usless Ahhhhhhh!

[TIGHTCHOKE]

Many years ago when I worked at a very well known Clay Pigeon Ground in the middle of the country.

 

The owners wife called him from the house a mile up the drive to say that the council bin lorry had just arrived and placed both bins, land fill and recycling in to the same lorry.

 

The owner was a councillor with responsibility for the environment and rubbish collection.

 

I told him what his wife had said and watched him call the owner of the company that ran the trucks.

 

A very interesting one way conversation that lasted about 3 minutes and concluded with the threat of removal of contract for the county's rubbish collection!

[Davyo]

My bin lid was not fully shut,1inch open all because of an un squashed cornflake box.That was reason enough for the binman to leave it.Probably a breech of H&S if he tried to squash it.

[pontbeck]

Some time ago we cleared my mother in laws house. Spoke to the council and paid to take two van loads to the local tip. The last item , a chest freezer, they refused saying it was a commercial item . I asked where I could dispose of it and told they didn't know and I should contact the council who gave me the phone numbers of 5 commercial contractors, all of which said they wouldn't collect from a domestic address . I expressed some frustration with the last contractor who advised me to infer to the council that I would fly tip if I didn't get any help. Such a change in reaction , I was told to leave freezer at the top of the drive and they would collect in 10 days, I paid £30 for the privilege. Why couldn't someone tell me that when I first phoned, it was on the van and I would have dropped it off at the site and paid, saving them the cost of collection . No wonder there is so much fly tipping when you get such a negative attitude from the local authority, even when you are prepared to pay the cost.

[Scully]

Some time ago we cleared my mother in laws house. Spoke to the council and paid to take two van loads to the local tip. The last item , a chest freezer, they refused saying it was a commercial item . I asked where I could dispose of it and told they didn't know and I should contact the council who gave me the phone numbers of 5 commercial contractors, all of which said they wouldn't collect from a domestic address . I expressed some frustration with the last contractor who advised me to infer to the council that I would fly tip if I didn't get any help. Such a change in reaction , I was told to leave freezer at the top of the drive and they would collect in 10 days, I paid £30 for the privilege. Why couldn't someone tell me that when I first phoned, it was on the van and I would have dropped it off at the site and paid, saving them the cost of collection . No wonder there is so much fly tipping when you get such a negative attitude from the local authority, even when you are prepared to pay the cost.

I had a similar experience some years ago when I was told by collection workers I'd have to ring up to arrange the collection of an old tv they had left behind. The lady on the phone arranged a date and then asked me how I would like to pay. 'Pay!?' Says I, 'I already pay for my rubbish to be collected'. But this was different apparently. So I told her I'd bring it to the depot in the works wagon next time I was in the area. 'Sorry sir, commercial vehicles also attract a fee'. 'What about my van?' 'Is it sign written?' 'Yes'. 'That will attract a fee also'. I then told her that the hedgerow wouldn't attract a fee, to which she agreed, but it would attract a fine, to which I replied tongue in cheek, 'Only if i'm caught'. Anyhow, told her not to worry about it and hung up. Dumped it in the skip at workplace where it was collected the following Friday and taken to the very same depot.

[mel b3]

i can speak with a little knowledge on this one gents.

 

the local authority that i work for , no longer allows its operatives to walk onto a residents property , unless the collection is assisted due to old or disabled persons living at that address (this is strictly by prior agreement with the resident) , this is not the choice of the collector , its by strict order of the local authority , if you break the rules youre sacked !.

a couple of the reasons for this are.

if your car get scratched on your drive , and the only person that you know has been on there is a binman , who will you blame ? , it could have been done by anyone but the binman will get the blame and the local authority will be expected to pick up the bill.

if the binman walks onto your drive and trips over a broken slab , who will pay his wages while hes off work for six weeks ? , again , the local authority will be expected to pick up the bill.

if a plant pot , hanging basket , motorbike , or anything whatsoever has gone missing , the binman will get the blame and the local authority gets to pick up the bill.

false claims against local authorities are mind blowing .

 

other reasons are

budgets are cut to the bone these days , years ago crews would have a guy to (fetch out) , crews dont have this team member any longer so youre expected to place your own bin at the edge of your own property , you have one bin to look after , those guys will have around 2,000 per day.

 

 

the reasons that they will only take three bags or that they wont take overfilled bins (personally ill take anything that my truck will lift but im not supposed to) , is to FORCE! people to recycle everything possible , local authorities have recycle targets that are set by the government , some areas are very good with recycling , other areas are awful so pressure has to be put onto residents , its your waste and you need to take some responsibility for it , its getting tougher and tougher to get rid of and costs will only rise.

 

im not sure of the exact costs of having your bin emptied these days , the last tme that i was involved with this type of costing , the average household was paying 30p/40p per week to have their bin emptied , the rest of your council tax goes towards , emergency services , street lighting etc.

 

im not up for a row with anyone over it , these are just the things that i know to be true .

 

i think that most local authorities would be wise to spend a little more on educating the public as to where the council tax is spent , it might save a lot of anger and resentment from the public.

 

 

edited to add.

 

scully , the reason why the guy will have been taking a picture , is because quite often residents will lie and say that their bin was out and was in the correct position(that doesnt mean to say that your friends wife would lie though).

we often get complaints that weve missed bins , if a truck has to be sent back it can get quite expensive , in some parts of the country , trucks have cameras fitted all the way around , it stops false complaints and it also stops false claims by the public , or binmen .

 

edited again for scully

 

if your friends wife gets caught throwing her refuse into the street with someone elses waste , she may well get prosecuted for fly tipping , you would be wise to advise her to recycle correctly and then she wont have so much rubbish to get rid of , we all need to do our bit and sorting your own waste and putting your own bin out for collection takes very very little effort.

Edited August 11, 2016 by mel b3

[pontbeck]

I 'm now retired but had a commercial property paying £ 10,000 in rates but that didn't include a refuse pick up which was in addition. I'm not looking for an argument but I think your defending the indefensible . My father was a bin lorry driver for most of his life so I have some idea of the day to day problems.

[Bazooka Joe]

No wonder the countryside lanes are full of rubbish........

 

I can remember when I was a youngin, the bin men used to come up the garden path & take the bin out to the road,

 

& at Xmas they always got a tip off nearly every household, very much doubt that goes on now.

 

I get the impression that if they can get away empting a bin they will, no matter what the excuse.

[mel b3]

I 'm now retired but had a commercial property paying £ 10,000 in rates but that didn't include a refuse pick up which was in addition. I'm not looking for an argument but I think your defending the indefensible . My father was a bin lorry driver for most of his life so I have some idea of the day to day problems.

I cant really comment on refuse collecting not being done as part of the rates , I can only guess that as a private company , you would be expected to pay for your own waste disposal , I know that its a gripe with most businesses.

Im not trying to defend anything, im just clearly stating some of the reasons why some things happen from my own experience.

The waste industry has changed massively over the last few years and is still changing , costs are growing at a shocking rate and will only ever go up.

It would be interesting to know how much a private waste carrier would charge to collect, refuse , green waste , and recycled waste from a house each week.

[mel b3]

No wonder the countryside lanes are full of rubbish........

 

I can remember when I was a youngin, the bin men used to come up the garden path & take the bin out to the road,

 

& at Xmas they always got a tip off nearly every household, very much doubt that goes on now.

 

I get the impression that if they can get away empting a bin they will, no matter what the excuse.

Most bin crews were a five man team , most bin crews are now three man teams , the guys that used to fetch your waste from your back door no longer exist.

Obviously some areas offer different services though.

[steve_b_wales]

A few weeks ago, my neighbour took a few black bags of assorted garden waste to a council recycling depot to dispose of. He went to throw the bags into the pile already in the skip, when a council employee asked him what he had in the bags. He said that it was bits of wood, cable soil etc. The employee said that he could not just throw the bag in the skip, and that he had to separate each item and place them in the correct skips. My neighbour said that he did not intend to go through the bags with his bare hands, and was then told, 'well you can't dump them here then'. He took the bags home, placed them outside in the back lane, and then phoned the council's 'waste buster' team to report dumped rubbish. Within two hours, they came and collected the bags. Wrong I know, but I can understand why some people dump rubbish, and I'm not talking about the 'professional' fly tippers.

[Bazooka Joe]

the guys that used to fetch your waste from your back door no longer exist

 

 

Probably dead TBH,

[fortune]

How is it that at work We have a wheely bin that is a commercial pick up into the back of a lorry. Everything goes into the bin and the driver said that It all goes into landfill. And when we used to have a BIG 7 yard skip everything went into it and it used to go somewhere up near Redhill. How is it that they recon that there is no money in domestic waste? The companies are being given tens of thousands of tons of reasonably sorted raw materials. If there was no money in it No company would do it. You've only got to go to the local council domestic tip on a weekend to see how much is going in.and why no vans or traders? It's all waste. It's just a racket, no wonder that there is so much fly tipping.

[mel b3]

 

Probably dead TBH,

They're probably sitting in the pub , drinking away the big fat council pension that im still paying into but will probably never get lol.

[mel b3]

A few weeks ago, my neighbour took a few black bags of assorted garden waste to a council recycling depot to dispose of. He went to throw the bags into the pile already in the skip, when a council employee asked him what he had in the bags. He said that it was bits of wood, cable soil etc. The employee said that he could not just throw the bag in the skip, and that he had to separate each item and place them in the correct skips. My neighbour said that he did not intend to go through the bags with his bare hands, and was then told, 'well you can't dump them here then'. He took the bags home, placed them outside in the back lane, and then phoned the council's 'waste buster' team to report dumped rubbish. Within two hours, they came and collected the bags. Wrong I know, but I can understand why some people dump rubbish, and I'm not talking about the 'professional' fly tippers.

I can see why folks dump too steve , but ultimately, youve just picked up part of your neighbours costs because he was too lazy to sort his own waste , multiply that by the thousands of times its being done and were all paying for folks that are to lazy to sort out the rubbish that they generate.

Over the last few years ive started to feel very strongly that we should each pay to dispose of the amount of waste that we generate.

A little old lady living alone and generating half a bag of rubbish , shouldnt be expected to pay the same amount as a family of ten that generate twenty bags , it just isnt fair imho.

[ph5172]

I no longer use our recycling bin - the amount of times it has not been emptied is unreal - our whole street is the same.

The guy must spend most of his shift attaching an orange tag, writing the problem and reason for non collection and then taking a picture.

 

The latest reason 'Label not removed from coke bottle, recyclable mixed'

 

it now all goes in the same bin, to be taken to the depot and sorted there (i did call and check and the general waste is sifted for recyclable items)

I have noticed hardly any blue top bins out anymore.

 

I have seen my binmen look in the bin, as we had been away there was 1 bag in it, he put the lid down and walked off to the next, he did it with a few more.

Call to the council at 8am (bin men were round at 7.30) the reply was the lorry was probably full, i did asked what road we were on the day.... collection road 1 sir....... so your binmen came out of the depot to get halfway down the first road and had a full truck? i think it was more of a case of CBA - anyhow the supervisor came out at 8.30, bin lorry arrived back just before 9 and re did the ones they missed.

 

 

We did have a ditty in the paper recently

Fireman on his way to work noticed his bin had not been collected as it was 'too heavy' - orange label attached. Bin men next door ''sorry mate too heavy''

 

Phone camera on and shouts over why was bin not emptied - ''as per the label mate too heavy'' guy call his daughter down stairs complete with school bag, can you fetch that bin in for me, girl drags it up the drive and pushes it into the corner all neat and tidy. How old are you.......... 9!!

So a 9 year old girl complete with school bag managed to move a bin (that judging by the video) a 19 stone bloke couldnt

 

As soon as it hit the local council website a team was dispatched, the bin emptied and the operator given remedial manual handling

[39TDS]

My gripe with bin men are lorries constantly parked in the middle of the road holding up all the traffic and leaving flaps open when driving around so all the rubbish can blow out.

Refuse collection is a business so how is their business allowed to operate on the side of the road preventing all others to go about their business?

Secondly, if i allow scraps of paper etc to blow off my lorry I would be done for dangerous load, so should they.

[fern01]

What really gets my goat about the my local Council recycling scheme is that it is a complete sham to pretend they have hit their targets.

 

All the green waste collected by a separate wagon and also collected in a designated skip in the recycling tip all goes into the landfill

 

The timber, cardboard and glass etc earns them nothing.

[Davyo]

Some body memtion bin men not allowed to go onto your drive in case they get blamed for damaging property or a car.In Durham we also have a black curber box for bottles.I no longer use mine as the bin men once empty simply launch them 'yes launch'them from the motor back on to your drive regardless of any car parked.If the policy is to not go onto peoples property in fear of damaging cars ect,then why is it ok to launch a heavy duty black plastic object back onto a property?

Edited August 12, 2016 by Davyo

[mel b3]

Some body memtion bin men not allowed to go onto your drive in case they get blamed for damaging property or a car.In Durham we also have a black curber box for bottles.I no longer use mine as the bin men once empty simply launch them 'yes launch'them from the motor back on to your drive regardless of any car parked.If the policy is to not go onto peoples property in fear of damaging cars ect,then why is it ok to launch a heavy duty black plastic object back onto a property?

Morning dave,

Thats something that ive seen with my own eyes , I totally agree that its wrong , with the local authority that I work for , its been stopped , I cant vouch for others around the country though mate.

 

Youve raised some very good points above fellas , some right and some wrong , when I get back from work ill do my best to reply to a few.

 

I cant defend all binmen , some are lazy , some are rude , some are awkward , one thing I can say for sure though , most of them are just normal and decent guys that are just trying to earn enough to pay their way in life.

 

Something else I should add ,many hundreds of pw members will have had dealings with me via the leather products that we sell , those guys will know the level of customer care that I offer , well I offer exactly the same level of customer care in my day job , I cant make everyone happy but I bend over backwards trying.

[KFC]

i can speak with a little knowledge on this one gents.

 

the local authority that i work for , no longer allows its operatives to walk onto a residents property , unless the collection is assisted due to old or disabled persons living at that address (this is strictly by prior agreement with the resident) , this is not the choice of the collector , its by strict order of the local authority , if you break the rules youre sacked !.

a couple of the reasons for this are.

if your car get scratched on your drive , and the only person that you know has been on there is a binman , who will you blame ? , it could have been done by anyone but the binman will get the blame and the local authority will be expected to pick up the bill.

if the binman walks onto your drive and trips over a broken slab , who will pay his wages while hes off work for six weeks ? , again , the local authority will be expected to pick up the bill.

if a plant pot , hanging basket , motorbike , or anything whatsoever has gone missing , the binman will get the blame and the local authority gets to pick up the bill.

false claims against local authorities are mind blowing .

 

other reasons are

budgets are cut to the bone these days , years ago crews would have a guy to (fetch out) , crews dont have this team member any longer so youre expected to place your own bin at the edge of your own property , you have one bin to look after , those guys will have around 2,000 per day.

 

 

the reasons that they will only take three bags or that they wont take overfilled bins (personally ill take anything that my truck will lift but im not supposed to) , is to FORCE! people to recycle everything possible , local authorities have recycle targets that are set by the government , some areas are very good with recycling , other areas are awful so pressure has to be put onto residents , its your waste and you need to take some responsibility for it , its getting tougher and tougher to get rid of and costs will only rise.

 

im not sure of the exact costs of having your bin emptied these days , the last tme that i was involved with this type of costing , the average household was paying 30p/40p per week to have their bin emptied , the rest of your council tax goes towards , emergency services , street lighting etc.

 

im not up for a row with anyone over it , these are just the things that i know to be true .

 

i think that most local authorities would be wise to spend a little more on educating the public as to where the council tax is spent , it might save a lot of anger and resentment from the public.

 

 

edited to add.

 

scully , the reason why the guy will have been taking a picture , is because quite often residents will lie and say that their bin was out and was in the correct position(that doesnt mean to say that your friends wife would lie though).

we often get complaints that weve missed bins , if a truck has to be sent back it can get quite expensive , in some parts of the country , trucks have cameras fitted all the way around , it stops false complaints and it also stops false claims by the public , or binmen .

 

edited again for scully

 

if your friends wife gets caught throwing her refuse into the street with someone elses waste , she may well get prosecuted for fly tipping , you would be wise to advise her to recycle correctly and then she wont have so much rubbish to get rid of , we all need to do our bit and sorting your own waste and putting your own bin out for collection takes very very little effort.

Genuine question.

I assumed that the stuff that I put into my blue recycling bin goes to be recycled. If the lid is open then it won't be collected because there's too much stuff in it to be recyycled but the council don't collect it because they want to encourage recycling, mmmm, how does that work???

[mel b3]

I honestly cant give a definite answer to that one.

My guess would be , and its purely a guess , the truck or lifting gear manufacturer has stated that only bins with closed lids can be loaded , and the bloke is just folkowing instructions.

 

Personnaly , I will load anything possible as long as it isnt contaminated , my heaviest wheelie bin to date was 300kg.

[steve_b_wales]

Morning dave,

Thats something that ive seen with my own eyes , I totally agree that its wrong , with the local authority that I work for , its been stopped , I cant vouch for others around the country though mate.

 

Youve raised some very good points above fellas , some right and some wrong , when I get back from work ill do my best to reply to a few.

 

I cant defend all binmen , some are lazy , some are rude , some are awkward , one thing I can say for sure though , most of them are just normal and decent guys that are just trying to earn enough to pay their way in life.

 

Something else I should add ,many hundreds of pw members will have had dealings with me via the leather products that we sell , those guys will know the level of customer care that I offer , well I offer exactly the same level of customer care in my day job , I cant make everyone happy but I bend over backwards trying.

I've heard about you bending over backwards!