View Full Version : Be careful what you put in your bin, fines on the way!!
Be careful what you put in your wheelie bin, Highland Council are proposing fines for us if we put the wrong stuff in our bins. Quite sad for a council that wont even take glass or plastic from us except for landfill....
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-12191330
C3..:(
That's awful :( we don't any recycling bins here, and even for the whole village there's no plastic recycling at the community bins. Can't win!
Whitewater
14-Jan-11, 21:50
If they supply us with the bins I'll be quite happy to fill them.
ShelleyCowie
14-Jan-11, 21:57
If they supply us with the bins I'll be quite happy to fill them.
Agree! If i could get a bin for cardboard i would be happy!
Im actually quite scared of recycling some things incase its wrong! Lost my instructions :(
I know about the brown bin, but not the blue one!
What are they doing about recycling all the rubbish the scum of the earth throw in the street?
The quality of stuff the council gets out of our recycling bins is the real issue. This business of putting food and drink tins in the same blue box as paper is just daft. How much of the paper we save is spoiled due to contamination?
In a previous job, someone from the council (not Highland) came out to discuss the waste collection situation at my work. They had just invested in new blue bins for the area to be used for paper only. They had new recycling refuse vehicles that would only collect this clean paper. The result was that they were able to double the weight of paper that they were able to recycle.
Interesting , so when the Refuse Lorry comes around the Bin Men will open each bin and every bin bag inside to see if there is any Paper or Tins. Then if there is they will report it so a fine can be levied.
Let me see.............I think not for if they did the time it would take would cost more than any fines they would collect.
I think not for if they did the time it would take would cost more than any fines they would collect.
Was there not some change to hours of bin men recently? It was something like they have to stay at work after they have done the job. Guess they might have the time... if the council was serious about it.
The latest crazy thing is to put a microchip in your bin that will tell the council directly what is in your bin.....I think its taking Big Brother just a step too far!!!
C3...
The latest crazy thing is to put a microchip in your bin that will tell the council directly what is in your bin.....I think its taking Big Brother just a step too far!!!
C3...
The MicroChip would get scanned by the Lorry as it is loaded onto it and would register whose bin it is. It can register the weight of the refuse but there is no way a Chip could say what is in the Bin.
This is what Bristol are doing: "Residents could be charged the hefty penalty if council snoopers discover they have put items like paper, glass and tins in their wheelie bins with other refuse. Bristol City Council plans to hire two enforcement officers at a cost of £45,000 a year to search through the bin bags of any residents who fail to put their recycling boxes out for collection. These “waste doctors” will be permitted to hand out fines ranging from £75 to £1,000 and take legal action if residents fail to sort what they throw out.
The Communities Secretary Eric Pickles will today abandon the much hated pay-as-you-throw tax which had been due to be rolled out later this year. Town hall chiefs will be told to end pilot schemes designed to penalise householders £100 for throwing out too much rubbish."
Start that lark I can see even more bags of rubbish being dumped in farmers gateways..
And ref the 'chips' above: "One council has already taken a different approach in its efforts to minimise waste by handing out Marks & Spencer vouchers to people who successfully fill up their recycling bins. The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead today becomes the first local authority in Britain to introduce a scheme that aims to reward householders rather than punish them. It works by using microchips in bins to work out how much plastic, paper and glass has been thrown out. Homeowners can earn an average of £135 if they recycle their rubbish properly."
Interesting , so when the Refuse Lorry comes around the Bin Men will open each bin and every bin bag inside to see if there is any Paper or Tins. Then if there is they will report it so a fine can be levied.
Let me see.............I think not for if they did the time it would take would cost more than any fines they would collect.
I remembered when I lived in the islands they brought out the organic bin. Once they saw a butter portion wrapper (you know the ones you get in hotels) in our bin, by accident, and they refused to empty it. We only got our bins emptied every 2 weeks, we were raging about it! They could have at least told us. Can't see them fining though.
canadagirl
15-Jan-11, 01:29
And ref the 'chips' above: "One council has already taken a different approach in its efforts to minimise waste by handing out Marks & Spencer vouchers to people who successfully fill up their recycling bins. The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead today becomes the first local authority in Britain to introduce a scheme that aims to reward householders rather than punish them. It works by using microchips in bins to work out how much plastic, paper and glass has been thrown out. Homeowners can earn an average of £135 if they recycle their rubbish properly."
What about people who practice the first 'R'- reduce? We try to use as little as possible of things that need recycling,and only fill the box every couple months. I guess it's just a slow eduction process to get everybody onboard. But just think, if you've got a disagreement with the bloke down the road, just sneak something into his bin!!
Alien Adrenaline Reflex
15-Jan-11, 02:56
bekisman, that makes a lot of sense to me, increaset he council tax to the levels that we would have been at wothout the freeze and then offer discounts for proper recycling. So maybe we woundnt be in such a bad way if we were paying more for iur services but aking savings on the same bills by being responsiblr for our own waste. How much can we save by recycling wadf? lol
I'm all for recycling, I like the idea of council giving us different bins and do use them. I can't understand why they collect paper and tins in the blue box and not glass though.
But I think there is fine line between improving the recycling habits of the public and discouraging proper waste disposal.
If people start getting fined for using bins incorrectly, or charged by the weight of waste, I can imagine there will be a huge upsurge in fly tipping, littering and disputes between neighbours accused of using each others bins.
I also wonder how much the council make from selling the collections for recycling. I remember the Speedy Skip Hire van going all round the town on bin day collecting paper and card for recyling long before the council started. If they were doing it there must be money to be made in paper.
Stack Rock
15-Jan-11, 10:18
As from April all households in Caithness will be given a wheelie bin (same size as the normal bin) to recycle plastic, cardboard, paper etc - the rural areas of the county have this presently. The normal waste / re-cyc collections will alternate fortnightly. However I believe no glass is allowed and still has to be taken to the normal recycling bins.
As you know most people will abide by the rules but for the others some form of stick is surely required to make them comply. The Maidenhead & Winsor scheme looks a good idea.
'Quite sad for a council that wont even take glass or plastic from us except for landfill....'
Not quite correct as the council recycles all glass and plastic taken to the re-cycling points and the plastic deposited in the rural blue wheelie bins.
I understand that all councils have to meet targets to reduce landfill set by the government which increase every year and if not will be fined. Also the council have to pay landfill tax which goes up every year and is about £50 a tonne for tipping our waste in their own site. When you add collection costs getting rid of rubbish is expensive.
ShelleyCowie
15-Jan-11, 10:42
Could they really charge us for the weight of our bins?! :eek:
Crivens help me having 2 kids in nappies here! The weight of a nappy isnt as light as some would think! And i know all about the re-useable nappies but sorry not my kind of thing! I have enough washing to do as it is without worrying have i washed enough nappies for both my kids!
I think having a normal sized bin to take more (although it would be good if they took glass) is a great idea! My hubbys granny in Skye has one and she didnt have to worry about seperating it all, she got 2 weekly collections.
Also im sure the bins are less likely to blow away than them really light blue boxes! :lol:
Stackrock, Not everyone can get down to the recycling bins, some people dont have cars and others have difficulty walking long distances loaded up with glass etc. Its easier for them to put the glass into the landfill wheelie bin, I do think the council should provide something to collect glass from homes for the elderly and infirm. I cant understand why they dont!!
C3...
ShelleyCowie
15-Jan-11, 12:40
Stackrock, Not everyone can get down to the recycling bins, some people dont have cars and others have difficulty walking long distances loaded up with glass etc. Its easier for them to put the glass into the landfill wheelie bin, I do think the council should provide something to collect glass from homes for the elderly and infirm. I cant understand why they dont!!
C3...
Agree with you there! I dont drive! Also pushing a pram and towing along my 2 year old with a bag of glass isnt really practical. Last time i went to the recycle aswell the bins were packed so the only option was to leave it sitting out. I chose not too as i saw that as a danger to others. So ended up in my black bin anyways!
Bobinovich
15-Jan-11, 13:31
I've been big on recycling for years but rarely use the blue box as it has a tendency to blow about once emptied. I keep all my paper, tins, and glass in boxes, and cardboard I flatten & put into bigger cardboard boxes to keep the volume down, until I have enough to fill the car, and then make a single trip to the recycle centre. So long as you've got a bit of room to store it all (shed, garage, etc.), and can once in a while ask a relative, friend or neighbour to drive you up (or take it for you) to the centre, then there are fewer excuses not to recycle.
The idea of incentivising recycling I feel would work better than fining those who don't - otherwise the aforementioned fly-tipping will get out of hand very quickly. Being rewarded for doing something which is really simple and actually makes sense is a no-brainer IMO.
We have A green box for glass and tins, a red bag for plastic and cardboard, a green bag for newspapers, a brown wheelie bin for garden refuse and a small grey wheelie bin for the rest. After the recent bad weather here, none were emptied for weeks and the streets were resembling a third world country. When they were finally emptied the whole lot were emptied into the back of the same wagon. Dont know why I bother.
Stack Rock
15-Jan-11, 14:13
Stackrock, Not everyone can get down to the recycling bins, some people dont have cars and others have difficulty walking long distances loaded up with glass etc. Its easier for them to put the glass into the landfill wheelie bin, I do think the council should provide something to collect glass from homes for the elderly and infirm. I cant understand why they dont!!
C3...
I take eldery peoples glass to the recycling centres for them. Ask a relation or neighbour. As for collecting glass, I agree a glass collection would be ideal but I supose the value of the glass wouldn't cover this.
Quite a good explanation on Highland Councils recycling details: http://www.highland.gov.uk/yourenvironment/wastemanagement/recycling/kerbsiderecyclingcollection/Blue+wheeled+bin+FAQs.htm
Maybe the government should take a look across the channel, i.e. Germany, where:
* supermarkets and shops return any cardboard packing to the company making the product, and buyers leave packings at the shop.
When I shop here and buy cereal bars, for example, I leave the packing at the supermarket.
* on glass, drink cans and bottles you have to pay up to £0.20 when you buy them and you get this back when you return the empty item
* all plastic packing has a "green" symbol meaning it is collected in large bins and recycled by the council.
since this was introduced in Germany, companies have significantly reduced their packing because they have to pay if it can't be recycled.
spaceddaisy
15-Jan-11, 18:18
As from April all households in Caithness will be given a wheelie bin (same size as the normal bin) to recycle plastic, cardboard, paper etc - the rural areas of the county have this presently. The normal waste / re-cyc collections will alternate fortnightly. However I believe no glass is allowed and still has to be taken to the normal recycling bins.
I've no idea where I'll put another wheelie bin but welcome them starting to take plastic and cardboard.
I've no idea where I'll put another wheelie bin but welcome them starting to take plastic and cardboard.
Same here - we already have two - one for garden waste, one for regular waste ...
Maybe the government should take a look across the channel, i.e. Germany, where:
* supermarkets and shops return any cardboard packing to the company making the product, and buyers leave packings at the shop.
When I shop here and buy cereal bars, for example, I leave the packing at the supermarket.
* on glass, drink cans and bottles you have to pay up to £0.20 when you buy them and you get this back when you return the empty item
* all plastic packing has a "green" symbol meaning it is collected in large bins and recycled by the council.
since this was introduced in Germany, companies have significantly reduced their packing because they have to pay if it can't be recycled.
The German system is very good, I've experienced it myself and find something satisfying about walking in to the supermarket with empty bottles and getting money back! I know it's a false economy, in reality you've already paid a deposit on the bottle, but it certainly encourages recycling.
The best thing I think they have is the barcode scanners, where you put your empties into a machine, it reads the barcode, works out the type of product and hence refund. You then get a reciept which you take to the counter for a refund.
It would take a huge investment in Britain to match the German model, how often do you see a coke can or a beer can in Germany? Everything is plastic or glass bottles. Imagine the cost to the drinks producers here.
I think it could work, but would require government policy at national level rather than devolved councils setting strategies.
peter macdonald
15-Jan-11, 20:19
" bekisman, that makes a lot of sense to me, increase the council tax to the levels that we would have been at wothout the freeze and then offer discounts for proper recycling "
Sorry ..but if the amount of council spend was audited properly and those who overspend be made accountable then council tax would now be vastly reduced ....but then COSLA would be up in arms and certain members of certain City councils would be in jail
There is a small book called "Halls of Infamy" which details the goings on in Glasgow City Council. Its written by an ex "City Councillour" and frightening in its tails of corruption and graft .. If thats what the Scottish Labour Party want to increase Council Tax for then God help us
As for recycling .. why not just give a discount on each bottle and jar returned as Jack Bremner in his shop in Huddart St (along with many others) did in the 50s and 60s and as the Scandinavians and Germans do now .
...Might not be popular with the head of recycling at Highland Council though.............after all he has to justify his
wage whilst the guys on the front end struggle to keep their jobs .............http://www.grean.co.uk/upld/economic_impact_assessment.pdf
Some people if their bin is full they will check other bins and fill them up so you could end up penalised for other peoples TRASH.
Here in Stornoway I have 3 wheelie bins, one of the bins then gets sub-divided into glass, tins,paper, plastics.
Recycling gets emptied every two weeks and the alternate week is for the general rubbish.
Yes you need plenty of storage inside and outside to store all the stuff for 2 weeks at a time
I then also have composting bins!
Spend more time unwrapping shopping and sorting out my rubbish than eating the stuff.
In Newport south wales we have blue boxes for paper green boxes for plastic and tins, a green wheelie bin for all other household waste, a wheelie bin with an orange lid for garden waste and cardboard. We also have a brown caddy bin that you put on your worktop for food waste for which you have special bags in supplied by the council which then goes in to a bigger brown bin with a handle you can fit quite alot of food waste in!!!!!
I had a sticker on my garden and cardboard bin once saying not emptied due to contamination!!!!! I was expecting men in white suits and gas masks to turn up!!!!!
It turned out to be a little piece of polystyrene out of one of the boxes that was the cause of the contamination!!!!
A simple error and you feel like a criminal!!!!
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