A council has hit out at residents for mucking up its recycling bins.Note that wording – ‘it’s’ recycling bins. Way to get people on board, Thurrock…
Thurrock Council says those people who are putting food waste into its blue recycling bins could cost them as much as £200,000 in fines from its waste contractor.Well, it isn’t going to cost ‘them’ at all (would that it did!). It’s going to cost those taxpayers, of course.
So, that being the case, why are they doing it? Deliberate sabotage, or something else?
Council cabinet member for waste and recycling, Yash Gupta, said: “ We have a serious problem with contamination in the blue bin.Here’s a thought, Gupta. Why not investigate why people are not complying with your directives, and act accordingly?
“The council has to pay the contractor to remove and dispose of this contamination. If things continue as they are, we and the residents of Thurrock will be facing a bill in the region of £200,000 for this year alone – well over £1 for every man, woman and child living in the borough.
“This is also money that will have to be taken from other important services such as street cleaning or parks.”
Or offer incentives to get it right. Why should it always be stick? Try some carrot. What have you got to lose?
They (the councils,all of them) did not place any orders for carrots, just sticks, as sticks are not perishable items in the way carrots are!
ReplyDeleteI suggest they investigate the criminal incompetence and negligence of the people who negotiated such a contract in the first place, and prosecute them?
ReplyDeleteno council tax in Ireland, you just pay a company to take your bins away. You are only charged for non recyclable waste!
ReplyDeleteIt's simple really isn't... no chance of it ever happening here then.
The council should renegotiate the contract and stipulate "no big savage fines".
ReplyDeleteI'm betting that they actually had to specify the colour of the recycling bin that they have more than one type.
ReplyDeleteAh - here we go:
Your blue bin for recyclable waste will be collected [..] your brown bin [...] and grey/green bin[..]
Here's a novel idea - get rid of the different bins, and just have one.
Yes, one bin. Or possibly one normal + one recycling.
That way they won't have to have 7 different crews to empty the black, green, orange, blue, yellow, white and purple bins on different days of the week.
And 7 different level of fines.
Incidentally - is there actually any requirement for householders to be force to 'work unpaid' to sort the council's rubbish in this manner?
ReplyDeleteI can't find it at the moment, but I'm sure I've read somewhere that they can't actually force you to do this sort of thing (recyclable/non-recyclable, possibly, but to this extent?)
PJH 14:29
ReplyDeleteIt isn't the council's rubbish, it's yours.
The council only collects & disposes of it.
Our previous government imposed hefty charges on councils (which pass those costs onto ratepayers) for waste that's sent to landfill. So, councils try to minimise landfill (ie maximise recyclables), to minimise costs (ie your rates).
Yes Joe, but I'm failing to see why I should spend time sorting my recyclable waste when I pay the council to come and collect it and basically dump all of it into the same hole.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.recycle.co.uk/news/2329000.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1099004/Three-councils-dump-burn-recycled-rubbish.html
Joe, as is usually the case the blame for the landfill tax - and the associated fines if too much gets dumped - can be traced back to our actual government (not the Westminster mob) and their willing collaborators in Whitehall.
ReplyDelete"They (the councils,all of them) did not place any orders for carrots, just sticks..."
ReplyDeleteAnd bnow the money's run out, and they can't afford carrots... ;)
"Here's a novel idea - get rid of the different bins, and just have one. "
At my council, they frequently chuck the recycled waste in with the normal waste, prompting angry letters to the paper and explanations that it's resorted at the other end. A likely story...
"I can't find it at the moment, but I'm sure I've read somewhere that they can't actually force you to do this sort of thing (recyclable/non-recyclable, possibly, but to this extent?)"
That's been mentioned a lot at Tim's, but I'm not sure if it's ever been tested...
"...the blame for the landfill tax - and the associated fines if too much gets dumped - can be traced back to our actual government (not the Westminster mob) and their willing collaborators in Whitehall."
Can we leave yet?