Monthly Bin Collections

[Eve]

Could this work and would it encourage better recycling?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2446852/The-city-bins-collected-MONTH-Families-facing-week-waits-Cardiff-bid-save-council-money.html

We have two weekly bin collections for general waste and most recycling (weekly for green bin) in my bit of Manchester and a number of recycling bins. With recycling, I don't generate that much actual rubbish for the general grey bin but it's only me generating any rubbish so once a fortnight is ok but I have to juggle sometimes if I want to get rid of more/bulky rubbish to make sure it will all fit in the bin.

How would this work for larger families of houses of multiple occupancy like student houses? Would it lead to increased problems of rubbish left festering in the street?

How would it work for you?

[tonyav]

It wouldn't work for my family, Eve. It would most likely mean that I would have to take any excess rubbish to the council tip myself every other week.

[maggiebee]

I recycle most of my rubbish - glass, paper, cardboard, plastic and garden waste so have very little to put out on a weekly basis. I share a grey bin with my neighbour as she's in the same position. Feel a monthly collection would lead to a build up of rubbish on our streets as large families/HMOs wouldn't be able to cope especially as so few recycle.

[SlackAlice]

Some big difficulties to overcome. Possible 3 weeks worth of disposable nappies before they are collected etc., the increasing aromas alone would be unacceptable.

[mccfluff]

mmmmm a months worth of cat litter, that will smell nice, we have fortnightly collections, one week is the recycling, next the rubbish but we don't have food waste recycling, so to move it to monthly would be bad!

[jno]

they tend to dish out bins according to the number of houses, not the number of people in them. Doing the latter instead would make more sense.

[Eve]

I'm just watching this morning and they made the point about nappies building up and being there for up to a month before collection!

I remember having some unpleasant smells coming from where my bins are from leftover uneaten cat food - the smell is vile!

I can just see people ending up trying to store their bins and rubbish further from their houses and windows and them ending up a mess - already an issue with this with some of the student houses and their rubbish.

Right by me there are very long terraced streets right to the street front and ginnels down the middle (think Corrie) and it just looks terrible round bin day as they had bins and rubbish everywhere round the gable ends - they cleaned up the ginnels, gated them and put large bins in in the end so multiple properties could put their rubbish in. Worked pretty well.

I think it would be good to have a facility for people to get rid of items, say those who don't drive to get to a skip or would struggle getting stuff there. Would hopefully stop some flytipping and stuff being left out on street (including full old 3 piece suites!). We have some "rag and bone" people who could probably lighten the load but limited what they will take.

[FredPuli43]

Not work at all. There's only me and the dogs here but I manage to fill, or nearly fill, the bins once a fortnight; one week recycling one week general. What a large family is supposed to do, I know not. Certainly the other homes in this village appear to fill their bins under the present arrangements (I look sometimes to check whether I have missed a collection yet) I suspect cost-cutting has a lot to do with the scheme. Living in London, I was accustomed to 6 day a week collections; the joys of living in big apartment blocks; but I fear that that is impossible for anyone other than restaurateurs in big cities elsewhere

[andy-hughes]

No problem, as long as they have a guy with a pointy hat and a flute ready - and they pay him this time!!!

[Old_Geezer]

So if you miss a collection you have your trash hanging around for a sixth of a year, or you waste resources to do what you already pay the council to do. Blow the recycling, these authorities need slinging out. They've all been an utterly useless pain in the neck for ages now. They who pay the piper should be calling the tune.

[andy-hughes]

They're not paying the piper yet - but he is about to come into view any day if this nonsense goes ahead!!!

[pugthedog]

will we all get a reduction in our council tax i dont think so

[tonyav]

They would most likely raise it, pug !.

[paddywak]

Our bins are done weekly alternating between rubbish and recycle and it works ok for Trish and I but my niece who lives just up the road,five off them,often phones up to see if we've any room in the bin so they'd be pushed as it is.

[Old_Geezer]

"Would it lead to increased problems of rubbish left festering in the street?"

Hmmm... it might lead to increased problems of rubbish left festering outside your back gate, left by some local scumbag with no sense of right or wrong but just for what gets a problem off their back.

[tonyav]

Would the councils only need half as many binmen as they do now ?.

[Old_Geezer]

No, but they need to employ them half the time.

[tonyav]

Ah right, redeployment or redundancy then !.

[Gromit]

It is a weekly bin empty for recyclables, and a monthy for anything else. If that is too complicated or hard for anyone they must be fairly clueless. I put my black bin (non recycleables) out about once every two months.

[LazyGun]

I do not see why it should be that big of a deal. Here in Herts we now have 3 bins - General Household/Black binliner rubbish, Recyclable - tins, bottles, milk cartons, cardboard etc, and one food caddy/organic/garden waste.

I would be quite happy for my general household waste to be collected only once a month, so long as they keep collecting recyclable/organic every fortnight.

Oh and as best as I can tell from the article, this was one of several schemes under consideration.

[Mamyalynne]

It would never work here - block of 9 apartments, one large steel bin at the bottom of a chute about the size of 3 maybe 4 wheely bins.

We cannot have recycling bins as the only place to put them would be under windows, a no no from the fire service.