Vocal Voices

Just had a letter from council
Yet more rules about what you can put in the bins
drives you had I always full a plastic bag with stuff for the blue bin now every last thing has to go in the bin loose no plastic bags
It's ridiculous to say the least I will chuck it all in the green bin getting to complicated rant over

The reason for that is that when the trucks empty the recycling it can go straight on a conveyor belt and be sorted as quickly and efficiently as possible. The plastic bags we use for our rubbish aren't recyclable so if you put your recycling in a black bag, then the recycling facility would need a macerating unit installed / built to try remove that plastic before the recycling heads onto the conveyor belt.

Could you not use a small bin with handle to collect your recycling and then empty that into your larger bin?

Does that mean the Council are saying no plastic bags in your household rubbish bin, Saundra? Completely OTT if that's the case.
(Our blue bin is household, our green bin is recycling, but everyone seems to be different ....)

In Leeds, with the exception of thin films from food trays, black food trays, glass and polystyrene, most things deemed recyclable can go in the green bin... Getting them in there is a different matter as there is no "one" indoor collection method, so for most people it is one thing at a time - a milk bottle, empty beans tin, cereal box etc. A bit of a pain if the green bin is not just outside the door.

My solution is an old pillow case onto which I have sewn a handle. It is hung behind a cupboard door and gets emptied in the green bin when it is full, then used again. Another popular method is similar but using one of those sturdy 'bags for life' - fill and empty.

Even the black bins are pre sorted to remove any recyclables before the "rubbish" is sent for incineration to produce heat and electricity or is composted, as per what Ria says. Leeds does not send any household bin waste to landfill.

Yes it does ossi I used to use a plastic bin bag full it up and our it into the blue bin to recycling
And everything else into the green,bin goes to landfill I think I mean it says take batteries to the recycling centre by taxi?
Plus the leaflet we posted and delivery by royal mail now how much did that cost

Workingman wrote:. Leeds does not send any household bin waste to landfill.

You are so very lucky Frank. Far too much of the waste here where I live goes into landfill still - it's shocking! I now have a triple bin in my kitchen; the largest section is for regular recycling, and I use the other two smaller ones to collect non-recyclable waste; one lot I take to work and put in the bin there as Westminster council incinerates as well. The other is for stuff that I have to put into my black bin because it'll be too messy / smelly to bag up and take on a train . I also keep crisp packets and cat food pouches separate and take them to my Sainsbury's for special plastic recycling.

Gosh ria I admir you for effort but I quite honestly find it very confusing what goes where

We have a green box with a lid for plastic, another for glass, and a large bag - rather like a paper boy's bag - for paper and cardboard. Anything else goes into the main bin, in plastic sacks. We don't have landfill here any more, there's a huge incinerator building a few miles outside the city.

TheOstrich wrote:Does that mean the Council are saying no plastic bags in your household rubbish bin, Saundra? Completely OTT if that's the case.
(Our blue bin is household, our green bin is recycling, but everyone seems to be different ....)

We’re not to put soft plastics in our recycling bin. I collect all of ours and take it to the supermarket, it’s either that or a trip to the tip, but not everyone can do that.

Our system changed and the hard plastic, glass and cans still go in the blue bin and there’s now a blue bag for card and paper. The bags are useless, they’re too small and while we can request a second one they’ve not fulfilled requests. The lids have a Velcro fastening and don’t close properly yet they won’t empty them if the contents are wet and they’re supposed to be weighted to stop them blowing away but are often seen blowing around the streets. We now can’t put large pieces of cardboard out at the side of the bins because the compartment for paper and card on the bin lorries isn’t very big.
As a consequence we don’t bother with card and paper anymore, it’s too much hassle, and from looking around our street on bin day we’re not the only ones. I’d be very interested to see what the recycling rates are since they introduced the new system 18 months ago.

Six of us replying, so far, and six different systems up and down the country!

Does anybody else see the problem here?

Why oh why can't we all have one simple standard system with the minimum number of receptacles - one for "waste" and one for recyclables with communal collection points for glass and paper products, inc cardboard?