Author	Topic:   How to cope with two weekly collections
alf	posted 5/24/06 5:26 PM     All authorities implementing the two week collection scheme seem to agree that it is the way forward in refuse collections, as do DEFRA. It is believed that education is needed to get the message across. The lid should be kept on the bin at all times. All food waste, particularly meat, should be double bagged. The same applies for animal waste. Recycle as much waste as possible to reduce the amount of waste left in the bin. Do not leave waste food exposed inside the home before putting it in the bin. Flies can lay eggs during that time. Uncovered bins inside the kitchen can also allow flies to lay eggs on waste food. Squeeze the air out of bags used to contain food waste, etc before they are tied and put in the bin. The lack of air should reduce smells along with slowing down general decomposition and slowing down any maggot development. Do not leave dog/cat food uncovered, again flies can lay their eggs in it. Maggots will only appear in the bin if the eggs have been laid in a suitable food source for them to develop. If bins are kept closed, flies should not be able to enter to lay their eggs especially if it is properly wrapped when put in the bin. Therefore, if maggots do appear, the eggs are likely to have been laid before the food was put in the wheelie bin. It has also been suggested that solid waste from nappies are emptied in the toilet before being double bagged and put in the bin. Real nappies such as 'Terry Towels' are recommended as they are much more eco friendly and will reduce the amount of waste in the bin. There is no evidence of any known adverse health effects as a results of a two weekly refuse collection. One council had consulted their Medical Officer for Health who checked their records. These showed no indication of an increase in gastro-intestinal disease following the change to a two weekly collection. There is no proven research that links refuse will ill health in our modern society. Good hygiene in the home is the best way of preventing the spread of disease and infection. Flies are all around and have the potential to spread disease no matter what type of collection service is in operation. Maggots in wheelie bins will not cause any health problems. Obviously the wheelie bins are much better for protecting the contents from cats, dogs, foxes etc. Cleaning the bin and the use of insecticides/fly sprays will reduce the problem.
Doretta	posted 5/25/06 9:37 AM     Alf, thank you for taking the time to respond to so many of the threads on this forum. Would it be necessary for you to give the advice you offer if residual waste was collected every week?
ALF	posted 5/25/06 4:32 PM     As i said elsewhere YOU are responsible for YOUR waste not the council. They have an obligation to uplift waste at a time and place to be specified. Why is a two weekly collection so hard to so many folk - because they do not listen or take in what they are told. Go and look at a landfill it is ridiculous the amount of recyclate that is still coming out of bins. British people are the dirtiest in the civilized world, they litter roads, streets, shopping centres, country lanes and everywhere else prosecutions need to be handed out. IT IS YOUR WASTE!! More to the point how can weekly collections be carried out if the vehicle is lifting paper/garden that week you can not mix so do you suggest doubling your refuse vehicles @ £140,000 per vehicle that soon pushes up you council tax.
alf	posted 5/26/06 10:03 AM     Just looked at my answer to your comment and realised the main point had been missed, The points I made in my first comment really make no difference whether your waste is collected weekly or biweekly it is what you should be doing with your waste anyway
me	posted 6/1/06 9:53 AM     Hear hear Alf. Why do some people find it so hard to understand that it is those who make the waste and NOT councils who are responsible for our rubbish. Considering how we should be becoming more aware of the need to adjust our lifestyles to be more sustainable - for the sake of our children's future on this small planet - surely it is not too much to expect of people to think about what they buy or otherwise acquire in terms of the waste that it is likely to produce and try to reduce it. If less food is cooked, less will need to be thrown away - and much can be composted at home anyway. If some of the simple precautions you suggest, like making sure food waste is covered and flies can't get access to it maggot problems should not be a major problem. Furthermore by recycling as much as possible - and most(probably all) effective alternate week collections involve separate collection facilities for a good range of recyclable materials - waste from all sizes of household can be reduced to a manageable level and for very large families, most waste collection authorities will be willing to make special arrangements - like extra containers for recyclables though as well as residual waste. Surely by persisting with this old fashioned notion that we can all throw away as much as we like without a thought about the mountains of waste we make and the quantity of resources we waste both in terms of raw materials and energy needed to produce and transport them we are squandering resources on an unparallel and extremely selfish way. More alternate week collections I sy and make the wheelie bins smaller!
me	posted 6/1/06 9:53 AM     Hear hear Alf. Why do some people find it so hard to understand that it is those who make the waste and NOT councils who are responsible for our rubbish. Considering how we should be becoming more aware of the need to adjust our lifestyles to be more sustainable - for the sake of our children's future on this small planet - surely it is not too much to expect of people to think about what they buy or otherwise acquire in terms of the waste that it is likely to produce and try to reduce it. If less food is cooked, less will need to be thrown away - and much can be composted at home anyway. If some of the simple precautions you suggest, like making sure food waste is covered and flies can't get access to it maggot problems should not be a major problem. Furthermore by recycling as much as possible - and most(probably all) effective alternate week collections involve separate collection facilities for a good range of recyclable materials - waste from all sizes of household can be reduced to a manageable level and for very large families, most waste collection authorities will be willing to make special arrangements - like extra containers for recyclables though as well as residual waste. Surely by persisting with this old fashioned notion that we can all throw away as much as we like without a thought about the mountains of waste we make and the quantity of resources we waste both in terms of raw materials and energy needed to produce and transport them we are squandering resources on an unparallel and extremely selfish way. More alternate week collections I sy and make the wheelie bins smaller!
ray	posted 6/13/06 8:54 AM     why do I suspect some of the contributors on here are employed by councils ? I can just about cope with two weekly colections. I have a greater problem with the atitude of councils. I would like to emphasise that I am more than willing to sort rubbish, I expect to sort more than I currently do. If only my council would deliver its much promised glass bin (and collect it more than once a month) If I LEGALY buy something in this country it should be LEGAL to dispose of it in a sensible and convenient mannor. If my council demands I take it to a disposal facility I do not expect to have to drive miles to get to it then Queue for an hour to dispose of it. If its not LEGAL to Dispose of something at end of life then make it ILLEGAL to sell it in the first place. I would prefer to see legislation forcing packaging to be recyclable. from what I see Recycleing works in other countries, why are we making such a meal of it ? Why cant somebody design a rubbish vehicle with multiple compartments that keeps recylables seperate. ? I also think councils have stopped listening to their customers - the people who pay the tax in the first place.
me too	posted 6/14/06 2:24 PM     The council area in which I live operates a three bin + box system. A blue bin for paper and card - nothing else, if I want more than one these I get it. A brown bin for garden and pre cooked organics - if I want more than one I get it (upto 4). Black box for all cans and bottles - if I want more than one I get it. Blue and brown emptied once per month, box two weekly, plastics are not collected on a kerbside but every town or village has a plastics skip where plastics can be taken to. Residual bins are uplifted two weekly and families of more than five or medical needs may be supplied with an additional 1/2 size wheelie bin. What else is needed? yet still people don't recycle.
oscar	posted 6/14/06 7:21 PM     It's all very well suggesting double bagging but does this not increase the use of plastic in our rubbish? I though we were supposed to be trying to decrease disposal of such materials ie reusing them? I know some plastic bags are bio degradable but not all of them are!!
alf	posted 6/14/06 11:25 PM     Quite a few of the major supermarkets bags are biodegradable, you will find that new legislation will transfer your food waste into your garden waste bin and it is likely that most councils will switch their uplift regime to a two weekly uplift on that with your your residual waste bin ( now containing no organics if folk observe the rules) on a four week cycle. In answer to Ray's comments it is legal to buy many items that are built up with toxic materials, you don't expect the council to take your car away when you are finished with it, it is reasonable for any council to designate where it takes waste. You would not be happy to find your kids playing with mercury or getting burned with battery acid - would you? To me it is a small sacrifice to take my waste to a properly licensed site where waste is properly disposed off and is removed from polluting the local environment. Most kerbside recycling vehicles are multi compartment, unfortunately it is impossible to collect everything ours collects cans, clear,brown and green bottles all seperated and delivered to processors as such. = more income and greater recycling tonnages. With regard to taxes most councils are reducing outlay the more they recycle. Landfill tax is increasing drastically every year, disposal cost to landfill are ranging from £50- £250 per tonne each tonne of recyclate saves the disposal cost and then brings in an income albeit in some cases only a couple of pounds but with well sorted clear glass in the £40/50 mark and aluminium cans in the hundreds of pounds per tonne. So in the case of a tonne of ally cans you save £100 in disposal cost and bring in another £250 in sales you have in effect saved your council £350. We all have to accept responsibility for our own waste and the drive to your local civic amenity site may not be a pleasant way of spending your weekend. Recycling works in other countries because people there have a pride in their environment and do not expect to get everthing done for them, recycling figures are vastly improved since these systems kicked in. I am only looking forward to the time when councils get enough money in to employ litter and dog wardens who can issue fixed penalties in sufficient numbers to clean up our streets.
Me three	posted 6/15/06 9:18 AM     Ray - you suspect that some of us posting on here are Council employees - because some of us are. May I remind you that it is YOUR waste that is being delt with here - not the Councils. The Council DO NOT generate the waste, DO NOT create the waste, they simply collect it. Yes it may not be the most exciting thing that happens in your life but it is YOUR waste that the Council is dealing with and they are dealing with it as best they can. If you, Ray or Doretta, are the gurus of waste disposal - can you suggest the holy grail of solutions? One that works for everyone? Bearing in mind the limited funding, limited resources, cultural limitations and bone idleness of the public who can't even read information provided?? You have said it yourself Ray "it should be LEGAL to dispose of [waste] in a sensible and convenient mannor" What is not convient about a kerbside collection? What is not sensible about a household waste site for large items or specialised waste? I didn't realise that disposing of YOUR waste was such a chore for you - especially as YOU created it in the first place! If you are concerned about the amount of waste YOU generate - don't moan at your Council - I'll say it again - THEY ONLY COLLECT IT! Moan at the people who produce it and use it - yourselves and the national & multi national companies. Additionally, you may pay your Council Tax - but how much of that goes towards the waste collections?? If you are saying anything more than £100, think again!
oscar	posted 6/15/06 6:12 PM     Council employees or not if your rubbish is left in a bin for a 14 day period it will undoubtedly attract vermin! Simple as that! Just because people are against the idea of fortnightly collections does not suggest they are irresponsible with their rubbish or that they assume that it is not their responsibility to be careful with what they dispose of - of course it is down to individuals to be responsible - just as it is the council's responsibility to collect rubbish from households. However careful you are, this poses a problem for public health, particularly during the summer months. Perhaps a fortnightly collection in the winter would be a better idea, with an increase in collection during the summer.
Doretta	posted 6/18/06 11:52 AM     Our thanks to Ray and Oscar for their supportive comments. Ray, we now have the threat of "pay as you throw" where we will be charged by weight of the residual waste we throw away. This will be a separate charge in addition to council tax and local authorities appear keen to implement this. Critics raise the fly-tipping issue which is bound to occur and will neighbour set upon neighbour as people try to avoid charges by placing waste in a bin other than their own? We do take a pride in our communities but wish to see a lead from councils in this respect. It is unfair to assume people need to be forced into recycling - most do it voluntarily and appreciate the need to reduce waste going to landfill. Oscar, your suggestion of a return to weekly collections during the summer months is an excellent one but apparently this would involve extra lorries and staff and so has been dismissed by many councils when asked by residents whether this would be possible. Alf and the "me-team", thank you for your comments but we fail to be convinced by your arguments. Refuse collection is an extremely important service and has traditionally been seen as a high priority in the protection of public health. Now, it seems, it no longer has that priority and councils' attitudes towards residents, as Ray rightly says, leaves a lot to be desired. 66% of UK residents still enjoy a weekly residual waste collection. At least 11 councils have reverted to weekly collection following trials or fully implemented alternate weekly schemes. Let us hope more will follow their lead.
ray	posted 6/19/06 6:02 PM     Just an Observation. I live in Eastleigh. On Saturday my wife and I walked into the town centre (about half a mile), on the way I observed 2 car batteries dumped in a bush and counted around 9 wheelie bins that were unemptied & overflowing. Since the side waste ban has been imposed this sort of thing is commonplace. If it was just one case then I would agree that person has a problem. When I see problems on this scale then I find myself queerying the system. Most of the people I know who live in Eastleigh have expressed dis-satisfaction with the rubbish collection arangments. I appreciate councils are haveing a tough time but remain unhappy with arangements. I would also like to remind people how far we have come. I grew up in the 60's in an environemnt full of toxins . We have come a long way and I would not like to see a return to the commonplace dumping of dangerous waste in our environment.
terris	posted 6/19/06 11:02 PM     Car batteries dumped - these are special waste and would not be uplifted from anyones door, most civic amenity sites have areas where these can be taken and collected for onward disposal. Most councils either have or plan to have bylaws requiring bins to be removed from the street or face prosecution ( indeed this is already covered under the Envoronmental Protection Act 1990). There have been a diverse collection of answers given to your perceived problem but as with most single minded arguments the head is buried and common sense goes out the window. As has been stated the common comment's given are: 1 I fully support recycling and always have Why then do the figures show that in most cases recycling rates hasve grown from single figures to upto 30/40 % in some cases. 2 Its a health hazard and increases vermin. Questions answered and no substantive proof of bubonic plague or hamlinesque hordes of rats. 3 Fly tipping and dumping has increased, Probably a slight increase but again in most areas prosecutions and fines have substantially increased and a lot more information to these perpetrators is coming from the person in the street who is sick of seeing ther countryside blighted by flytippers ( nothing new this has always happened) 4 Economics We cannot continue to squader resouces into a hole in the ground.
Neil	posted 7/3/06 6:13 PM       It's clearly unrealistic for councils to move to bi-weekly collections without a thorough public information campaign on how to manage organic houehold waste. That should include offering to instal Green Cones in gardens (so they're done properly and don't attract vermin)and setting up a weekly collection of kitchen waste from flats etc for low cost in-vessel composting. For those who don't know, a Green Cone looks like a compsting bin but comes with a screwed on cage which is dug into the ground. Properly used it will take everything and the remnants (meat bones etc) will only need removing every 2 or 3 years. Speading a sheet of newspaper inside keeps down any flies and smells. Some people use them in Surrey and are happy not to have to put any food waste out for collection. For low cost in-vessel composting at a community level, check out the East London Community Composting project which has cleaned up the rat problem from the communal bins and waste chutes by collecting kitchen waste weekly from outside the door of each flat (special containers and powder to delay decomposition provided). Its then taken to a nearby building to be turned into compost in a UK made machine called The Rocket. The lesson in every case is that the community has to be involved from day one. Check out Wyecycle in Kent too, where an extraordinarily high level of local recycling and composting has been achieved by one man and his 2000 neighbours because he wasn't prepared to wait for the council to act.

Back to weeklywaste.com  | Post New Topic