Forum Topic

Fortnightly collections a seasonal challenge?

Anyone else having problems staying within the limits imposed by the wheelie bins and fortnightly collections at this time of year?I do try hard to recycle but my bin is full to overflowing and not due to be collected till about Saturday so I may just have t ditch the recycling and put it all in the black bin which was emptied this Saturday.What with a little party and more people in the house, it's just not possible to stay within the new and very mean limits.Anyone else having the same problem?I bet the streets are awash, again, by the weekend.

Sara Nathan ● 3404d29 Comments

Struggling to get posts to land in the right place this afternoon.Do write to the Council/your Councillors to let them know as it may help us to get a less stressful solution.

Philippa Bond ● 3401d

Christmas spirit.  You're lucky though Sara, I've seen them with padlocks on.  :)Struggling to get posts in the right place today!

Philippa Bond ● 3401d

When they last asked me to do that it was because they did not actually have a cardboard bank.  I refused to put it in general waste, took it to Greenford, and then wrote to the Council and asked for cardboard recycling at Acton.It is a small site but I do agree with you.  Rather than banks for the things that have other banks nearby eg I remember there being lots of banks at Morrisons, Sainsbury's and the Town Hall/swimming pool car park it would be good if they made more room for the things that you can't find nearby banks for.It is also irritating when people don't flatten their boxes and take out any polystyrene. The more flattened cardboard the more space for everyone else.

Philippa Bond ● 3401d

Christmas spirit.  You're lucky though Sara, I've seen them with padlocks on.  :)

Philippa Bond ● 3401d

No kids, not much crap. Some wrapping paper.Some partying and just much more time at home than normal, with more people.Lucky the Italians opposite seem not to have noticed the invasion of their bin space.

Sara Nathan ● 3401d

http://www.sbs.com.au/topics/life/family/article/2016/12/20/how-stop-people-buying-your-kids-unsustainable-crap-christmas

Philippa Bond ● 3401d

The Environment Agency isn't tough enough on manufacturers who fail to pay up when their turnover exceeds the free limit for packaging.  The laws also need tightening on producer responsibility.There are/have been too many packaging company millionaires at the top the Rich List while Councils of whatever party have been left with the bill for collection and disposal (that means we the Council Tax payers).We moan about excess and difficult packaging - but we go on buying it - don't!  Buy as little as possible and keep up the pressure and praise for change and innovation and improvement.  The supermarkets have said that we want it but the majority of their customers don't - they just haven't complained or complained loud enough to make their opinion heard. If you don't buy it then you won't have to deal with it when you get it home.

Philippa Bond ● 3401d

I think it might be better to have Councillors who were independent of political parties.

Philippa Bond ● 3401d

I'd probably vote for pay as you throw.  I wouldn't have done in the past.

Philippa Bond ● 3401d

And vote for a competent Conservative council !!!

Dennis Brogan ● 3401d

Are you seriously saying that you would buy any less and eat any less with a different Council?Christmas only comes once a year. We spend and unfortunately waste an awful lot.  There is an increase in personal debt.  We create about 30% extra waste and recycling.Time is the most precious thing that you can give but it is too easy to get carried away by all the marketing.Maybe you could try and make a New Year's Resolution to make less waste... http://westlondonwaste.gov.uk/10-ideas-make-waste-less-resolution-stick/

Philippa Bond ● 3402d

Labour is rubbish ! Could you imagine if the Acton leftie brigade suffered this under a Conservative council ? But of course it wouldn't happen as we all know Labour councils have no idea about running things !!!!!

Dennis Brogan ● 3402d

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/how-to-stop-christmas-waste-and-the-thousand-of-tonnes-thrown-away-each-year-a7489766.html

Philippa Bond ● 3403d

According to Envirowaste 30% more waste is generated over this period.You really don't want to have bigger bins just for this period as you'll regret it the rest of the year.Did you make any effort to reduce the amount of waste that you make - buying with less packaging and/or throwing less away?Did you in the run-up to Christmas make extra space in your freezer so that you could freeze any extra food eg  enough cooked meat for a future curry? November is a good time to do this.Did you make stock out of your turkey/chicken carcase?  It makes soup which is wonderful at this time of year when everyone seems to have colds and coughs. Research appears to confirm that it is helpful.  Using a slow cooker for stock making means you don't have to watch the pan so much and boiling it up reduces the volume of the carcase.Have you kept the best of the wrapping paper for next year?  Father Christmas always uses recycled paper.  My 2 year old great niece commented this year that he was using the same red sticky tape as her mother! Did you reduce the volume by flattening all cardboard, cans, drinks cartons and plastic bottles?Did you make best use of the collections in the run-up to Christmas and New Year?Did you use any of the other recycling facilities eg the Household Reuse & Recycling Centre (Stirling Road) or the neighbourhood (street) banks or supermarket recycling banks? Can you share with a neighbour who went away (best to ask them first/or put an explanatory note through their door hoping they won't mind - we don't need wheelie bin wars to add to our problems)! :)The Council have said that they will collect any extra recycling placed beside the wheelie but NOT in a black sack - see the info on the front page of this site.The Council used to send around a lorry to pick up extra cardboard after the collection - especially larger flattened boxes.  I don't know if they still do. Anybody seen this happen recently?It sounds like you have squashed everything into your wheelie so far and since you have so little in your other bin you seem to have done very well but maybe there is something helpful here! 

Philippa Bond ● 3403d

Food bin packed so tight some of the chicken bones are now fossilized. Recycling bin, if it empties will be a perfect bin shaped mass of card and plastic. Other bin has one small carrier bag in... Its not working that well really.

Tony Mansell ● 3403d

Walking around the streets off Horn Lane it is obvious that this new recycling scheme is just not working! Black bags heaped on top of the overflowing wheelie bins already.Many households did not leave their wheelie bins at the gate ready for collection. Some left the wrong colour bins. Very few left the food bins out.I had to contact Ealing Council because they did not empty my black wheelie bin or my food bin! What on earth is going on?

Jean F Fernandez ● 3403d

or made sure it's contractor did as well as updating the local authority info on www.recyclenow.com which has very good information but is not up to date.I must have been aware of cardboard banks for more than a year.  Where is the coordination?https://www.recyclenow.com/about-recycling-locatorThere are also ways to reuse cardboard rather than just throwing it away as recycling is an end of life action and reuse is better.There are some suggestions on www.recyclenow.com  One of the best we have had is using it to line the boot of the car.  It can also then be used to lie on if you have to look under the car.You could upset your neighbours by filling their bins - I have seen wheelie bins with padlocks on them.  So I suggest that you come to some friendly arrangement!

Philippa Bond ● 3404d

There are some neighbourhood recycling banks for flattened cardboard - but you'll have to check what is recycled near you because they don't seem to be listed on the LBE website!https://www.ealing.gov.uk/directory/29/neighbourhood_recycling_sites

Philippa Bond ● 3404d

We collected all our excess cardboard into two very large boxes and took them to the Stirling Road recycling centre/dump. On arrival they stated that all cardboard goes into the general waste - obviously due to the cardboard container being full.What a waste and poor planning when we were trying to recycle it!

Grant McAllister ● 3404d

Yes I do think the answer is to take space in under used bins. The people next door to me are not great generators of waste. recycled or not. Eat out a lot I think. Happy New Year to everyone.

Maire Lowe ● 3404d

Food is relatively easy - and we are disciplined as a) it's collected weekly and b) we have two bins or some reason.Maybe pinch some space from the Italians over the road who are never there and don't recycle anyhow....

Sara Nathan ● 3404d

I was away last week before xmas and my husband forgot to wheel the blue ones to the edge of property! So they didn't get emptied.I 've been sorting out the cardboard, and taking it straight to the dump. Even without it the bins are full. I do a lot of clearing out at this time of year so lots of extra, including 3 bin liners from son's bedroom. Will take them straight to the dump.

Kim Rugg ● 3404d

Residents can place any extra recycling next to their blue wheelie bin in a green box or a clear plastic bag so that it can easily be identified as items for recycling. Any cardboard that does not fit in can be flattened and stacked next to the bin or in a bag if possible. Recycling left in black rubbish bags will not be collected. Residents are also being encouraged to recycle any food that cannot be reused in their food bin as well as recycling as much festive related waste as possible.

Tony Crumpton ● 3404d

On the right hand side of this website under "Calendar"

Philippa Bond ● 3404d

Apple is right.  The wheelies are likely to have a large volume of air in them.  Remember to squash plastic bottles - particularly the water ones formed with horizontal rings around them push down from the top and reduce in size greatly. Plastic milk ones too - you just have to lean on them.Crush all cans - aluminium are particularly easy.  We used to have a can crusher mounted on an office wall which worked well with a bucket underneath for as-you-go volume reduction.  Personally I just stand on them - but wearing sturdy shoes.Tetrapak type juice cartons can also be flattened to make more space.Are the local recycling banks full?  (Quite likely to be at this time of year.)  If you go to a supermarket with a car to buy then you can often get rid of a bag of bottles or papers if they have banks at the same time as you pick up more stuff with packaging!

Philippa Bond ● 3404d

I saw the clear plastic bags tweet - but honestly, who has such things.Will go out into the street and abduct  a toddler - obvious answer....

Sara Nathan ● 3404d

Recycling doesn't all need to go in the wheelie bin. Just get some cardboard boxes and put the excess in that and it will be collected.

Mark Evans ● 3404d

Ealing Council have been tweeting that they'll take extra recycling, but it can't be in a black bag. I think they said to either box it or put it in a clear bag next to the recycling bin.(They couldn't manage giving my block of flats recycling bins at all, despite issuing us all with bags to carry our recycling down to the bin store a few years ago...)

Elly Belpassi ● 3404d

Friend of mine lifted her chiid into her recycling bin and got him to jump up and down and squash it all. Neighbours saw and he did the same with theirs!

Apple Leiper ● 3404d