£1000 fine for using te wrong bin.....

[R1Geezer]

According to the Mail (must be true!) councils are introducing some sort of fine system for not using the right bin. OK this is OTT but why do people find it so difficult to put the right stuff in the right bin? Round my way we have a big bin for all manner of recyclables and a small bin for non recyclable waste. Simple! Is it just a case of being deliberately contrary?

[Gromit]

When rules change, there will always be those who carry on as they were before. Take for example, driving while using a mobile phone. This was permitted for about 20 years until it was made illegal in 2003. There are good reasons for it to be illegal, but people who have always done it, continue and ignore the law.

Same with refuse collection. Cutting landfill is a good idea. New laws have been introduced, but because people have to change from what they have always done, they choose to ignore it.

[Oneeyedvic]

problems occur such as:

Milk cartons - are they recyclable? Depends where you live
Envelopes - ditto

Then you leave the bin outside (often overnight). You now have no control over who puts rubbish in it (unless of course you have some sort of locking system).

[jno]

we have four bins: paper, bottles, organic and everything else. It can actually be tricky deciding which is what and whether high-gloss paper is actually plastic and so on. I'm not sure I should face a heavy fine if I guess wrong.

[DrFilth]

imagine putting your bin out for glass and cans late at night. following afternoon you go to the bin to pull it back into your property to find a sticker placed on the lid.
warning contaminated waste unable to empty.
some kind person had finished eating their pizza and put the box in your bin.
would it be fair to give this person a fine ?
will people need to have a day off work so they can get their bins emptied without
getting a fine ?
think about it do you want to mess about at 4 am , wake the neighbours up pulling your bin to the front of the property.

[society]

I once got a ticket for my mails being found in the public bin, had no idea how it got there. I contested it and won.

[DrFilth]

http://www.manchester...his_colourcoded_chaos

[Backdrifter]

I can see why people get frustrated by this; and I agree with the above posts about the unfairness of it, should some unknown person mess it up for you.

Gromit is right - waste to landfill has to be cut back, it just has to be - we have lived for so many decades with a classic case of out of sight, out of mind. We throw stuff away and it ceases to be our problem. But there will be nowhere else to put this stuff unless we do something about it.

The multiple bins and the fines are an attempt to do something about it. It's probably not ideal though and can be unfair. What else can be done, bearing in mind we are dealing with people's in-built resistance to change, unwillingness to think about the issues, and lack of consideration (of those who tamper with others' bins)?

[anotheoldgit]

There doesn't seem to be any standard attached to recycling, what some Councils allow others won't.

When my council issued brown bins, they were only to be used for garden waste, now one can put in cardboard, shredded paper and kitchen food waste.

Why is one not allowed to put in 'Yellow Pages', coloured envelopes, or shredded paper in the waste paper bag?

Don't get me started on supermarket plastic bags, the only ones who seem to take along their own shopping bags, are the more elderly amongst us.

[Gromit]

AOG

UK paper Mills were unwilling to accept Yellow Pages because the Yellow dye stained everything. However, they have found a way around it, and you now CAN put Yellow Pages in the Paper recycling bin.

[Gromit]

meant to add a link to above

http://www.recyclenow...cts/yellow_pages.html

[redcrx]

when i moved, my old house had a green bin for general waste and black for recycled. The new house has a black bin for general and a blue bin for recycled.

The recycling list is completely different too.

I cant see how the councils can start charge for incorrect items when there is so much variation.

plus, around here, people will use any bin they find to put their extra rubbish.

[Backdrifter]

It is a shame that councils' practices vary but it shouldn't be too much hassle to get to grips with the different colours etc when you're under a different council; but the question remains of the fairness of fining if the scheme isn't followed.

Re shredded paper, my understanding is that the shredding destroys the fibre length, making it of too low quality for recycling. I think there are other issues too - paper mills sort by quality but can't determine paper quality from small shreds, also the shreds get filtered out in the recycling process.

The guidance we got with out compost bin said paper shreds could be composted.

[anotheoldgit]

Gromit

Thanks for that, but do you just mean the general paper recycling bins (type outside supermarkets etc?) Because my Council haven't yet altered their rules, they won't even take Thompson's directories either and I think the pages in these are white.
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Backdrifter

Thanks for the info. regarding shredded paper, makes sense.

[DrFilth]

the other thing about having your bins emptied only once a fortnight is the rubbish stinks. the council say that is not a problem double bag all your rubbish.
so you end up with more plastic bags in your bin ?
when / if summer comes, you get more flies ?

[Riss]

We have a whole host of bins and it is hard to tell what goes where.We have a black wheelie bin for general rubbish,a green bin for garden waste,a black small bin for paper (not cardboard),and another one for plastic and cans,and one for clothing.

[anotheoldgit]

DrFilth

I think they mean wrap it up in newspaper, at least our Council does.

[DrFilth]

aog , the council say double bag it.
we used to have to recycle our plastic bags then the council changed the firm who deals with the recycling. no longer wanting plastic bags.
when someone phoned the council they were told just stick them in the rubbish bin.
there was an article on this in the tameside advertiser.
i think they now accept them .

[McMouse]

We have to sort our bottles into green, brown & white. Then the bin men tip them all into one big hopper. Bar Stewards.

[R1Geezer]

well thanks all. I guess they should get consistency across all the local authoritoes before they start dishing out fines! The Manchester area must be a right can of worms!