Recycling for Profit only

[Taf]

We've had a missive from the council reference their recycling obligations.

"Aluminium cans and steel tins WILL be accepted, as will unbroken glass of all types, newsprint and high quality paper, and plastic bottles, but unwashed items will not be acceptable".

- but cellophane, plastic bags, low quality paper, thick card and corrugated card, shredded paper, rusty metal, items of mixed material, waxed paper cartons... and a whole list of previously recycled material will now not be acceptable... "put these in your black bin"... as they are "no longer profitable enough to recycle and must therefore be disposed of in landfill".

Hmmm..... they must be getting ready charge us per kilo of landfill-bound waste. And that word "profitable" screams out the real reason for all this recycling lark....

"Electrical items should be returned to their originating store for disposal" (oh yes, huge piles of old irons, fridges and teles dumped on the doorstep of Comet et al).

"Batteries to be taken personally to recycling centres...." (that means black bins full of batteries then...) "...similarly discarded clothing, footwear, mattresses, furniture and carpetting must be personally taken to the same sites" (that means no more free removal of large items of waste).

"Garden incinerators and bonfires expose residents to toxic gases, so should not be used for waste disposal".

"Fly-tipping fines are set to increase substantially to reflect the true cost of clearance by the council".

"Regular checks of black bin contents will expose those who are sending incompatible waste to landfill, and this will not be tolerated" ( that means "put your wrong waste in a neighbour's bin" and let them be fined and prosecuted).

They spent £millions on a state-of-the-art sorting machine, but it can't cope with plastic bags (hence all this "get rid of plastic bags" propaganda ) and storehouses are being rented to hold huge quantities of recycleable materials which are not worth the transport cost to shift them away as the market is being flooded!

Enough already!!!! 

[Taf]

Look what's just appeared in the news...

Mr Brown also said the government would convene a forum of supermarkets, the British Retail Consortium and others to look at how to reduce plastic bags to cut landfill waste.

"I am convinced that we can eliminate single-use disposable bags altogether, in favour of long-lasting and more sustainable alternatives," he said.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7101075.stm

[Lisa]

i'm sooo glad i don't live where you do..

recycling isn't even compulsory here (though i do it)

[Spite]

(though i do it)

  I don't.  If they want me to recycle, they can start taking the rubbish away more often than once every three weeks.  Damn place is a Rat's carnival, and I can't open my kitchen window for the smell.

[fred]

Bout the only thing I don't recycle is plastic.  Unusual to see more than one very light bag in the wheelie every week.  Just ordered a new, free, compost bin from the council.  the main recycling depot is only a 200m detour from my run to town and they take nearly anything

[Lisa]

they take it weekly here

[Admiral-SirJohn]

They take it twice weekly here.

And recycling is highly recommended (read mandatory, but the binmen don't care) here.

[Taf]

I expected the other side of the letter to be the same bumpf, but in Welsh... it isn't...

It goes on to explain EU Recycling Law, and how we will all be fined by the EU if we don't comply....

And then it tells residents that autumn leaves on pavements are dangerous, so we should sweep them up and put them in the green composting wheelie or compost them ourselves. It also says that leaves in gutters block drains, so we should collect these too!!

Leaves from street trees! That residents moan about every year, but the council won't trim even if the roots and branches affect properties!

And we have to clear snow and ice from the pavements outside our homes! And our paths to the front door should also be kept clear for postmen, delivery men and council visitors!!!

 

[Lisa]

  you need to move!!

[Taf]

What starts in Cardiff ends up all over Wales eventually... it's cost-cutting of services whilst they put up taxes 

[Lisa]

haven't even started on voluntary recycling through out the rhondda yet, so i think i am safe for a while

[Mike]

I wish they'd take my recycling here, they can't be bothered to drive the recycling lorry up to where the bins are and just drive past the end of the road

[Admiral-SirJohn]

You folks need to move over here.  Every one of those types of measures tried here have lasted about six months at most...

[El]

we had two weekly rubbish bin collections for the best part of a year and it was horrible  but what narked me was that two mile down the road is a large asian community that continued to have a weekly collection 
they had to cave in when the local by elections came and the other party said they would re-instate weekly collection.
We have one black bin that is now emptied weekly, one maroon bin for glass and plastic, one green bin for compost and one large polythene sack for paper and card that are emptied fortnightly.
Trouble is , I can`t get my bike past all those bins in a morning