Thursday 23 November 2017

Reading instructions.

Our Roadside recycling collections have all changed.   One week it is Dustbins - fairly straightforward - contents of dustbin wrapped in plastic bags and taken to the bottom of the drive.
The other week is Recycling week and since I moved - and all the instructions changed - I haven't got it right yet.

We have a variety of boxes and bags.   Here are the instructions:-

Blue Bags:   All paper, all card, egg boxes, brown card, cardboard tubes.   No to:  Takeaway containers, polystyrene, used tissue and wallpaper.
Boxes:   Plastic bottles,pots, tubs and trays; glass bottles and jars;cans, aerosols, cartons.   No to:  Broken glass, paint tins, plastic film and bags, plant pots, black plastic.

I sorted everything carefully yesterday and put it out at the bottom of the drive, but they didn't take it.    Did I do it wrong or did they just not see mine?   I will never know, but this morning, in the pouring rain, Tess and I drove up to the tip and handed it all in.    So all nice and tidy again.

15 comments:

Heather said...

How annoying. I once put a forbidden item in among our recycling and it was left uncollected. Now it is much easier. At the rear of the flats are four lines of bins: one for general rubbish to be disposed of in a bin liner, another for glass, then one for paper and cardboard, and finally plastics, tins and foil. Each area seems to have a different system.
You will soon adjust to the new system.

John "By Stargoose And Hanglands" said...

We have a very straightforward simple system BUT it requires three wheelie-bins. That's OK if like me you have room for three whacking great bins but not so good for people who live in flats.

Derek Faulkner said...

All to much aggro, especially when you have jobsworth bin men who delight in finding something in the wrong bin. Fortunately where I live the bin men just hook the bin on the lorry and tip it in, none of that inspecting the bin stuff. I often put the wrong stuff in the wrong bin and nothing gets rejected and we don't have boxes fot this and boxes for that - the world's gone mad.

Joanne Noragon said...

Our trouble starts with remembering to get it to the curb on Thursday night!

Jill said...

We have what has the funny name of "single sort". What it means is we can put all recycling together in one big bin. I love it so much. This is pretty much the norm now at least around where I live in MN. It has made it simple as can be.

justjill said...

We have alternate weeks as you. Rubbish one week, anything recyclable alternate weeks. Not glass, we have to take that to bottle/glass banks ourselves. All food waste goes in a smaller bin and is used at a place that creates compost. Our local tip is amazing stuff is sorted there too, fabric that would not be suitable to go to the charity shops. Near the tip is a charity called Can do who recycle drink cans and bikes! Food waste is collected weekly. Aberdeenshire got something right.....

Rachel Phillips said...

See what the neighbours are doing and follow.

Robin Mac said...

Thank goodness here in Mackay, Queensland, we have two large wheelie bins, one with a yellow lid for recyclables, paper, cardboard and plastics which have a designated number between 1 to 8. That includes some takeaway containers, but definitely no plastic bags etc. Everything else goes into the bin with a green top. The green bin is emptied every week, but the yellow bin every second. Some cities have a third bin for green waste which is also emptied every second week.
We have a large recycling sorting shed at the local Council tip which employs quite a few people to sort the waste.

Cro Magnon said...

This seems to be a universal problem back in the UK, and the rules change every week. Life was so simple years ago; why do they now make it so complicated!

thelma said...

We have two bins,one of which is green waste, and three green boxes for recycling. Whilst it is a bore it does save on hopefully dumping everything into the same land fill. As Rachel says watch what the neighbours do.

Librarian said...

We have to sort our waste into organic waste (spuds peels and so on), glass/plastic (such as yoghurt cups and mustard jars), paper and "other", all that does not fit into any of the other categories. Things such as empty batteries, paint tins etc., anything more or less of a chemical/dangerous nature, has to be taken to designated places.
My neighbours (there are 3 families in my house) often get it wrong, but so far, our bins have always been emptied when they were supposed to be - provided we took them to the road first, from where they usually sit behind the house.

Bovey Belle said...

We have a blue bag week (recyclable stuff, and as far as I am aware no lengthy stringent regulations as you have)and a black bag week (landfill). Very little goes in our black bag and it goes out about every 3 visits. Any paint tins, plastics, broken glass we take to the Tip. I recycle glass jars for jams and chutneys, but other glass we take to the bins in town. Anything compostable goes onto the compost heap or trenches for next year's beans, and anything burnable is burnt on the fire.

I am sure you will soon get into the habit of it all. It does seem that many folk are being treated like anarchists just for making a simple error though!

Derek Faulkner said...

A friend was telling me that when he was in America this year, that in one place householders have to take the bin to the lorry and hook it on themselves, will that be next here - and what happens if you're out that day.

Devon said...

That sounds like a very complicated recycling plan. The good thing about it is that it gives one confidence that the items are actually being recycled. In my neighborhood, we have two large garbage cans. One can for trash and one for recyclables. My only concern is that they do not want any bags and both cans are dumped into the same truck. I was told they sort everything at the dump, but I can't imagine they can separate it all.
I don't know where in America they have you take the cans to the truck and load it yourself. I'm usually at work when the truck comes by as are most of my neighbors. The truck has a big hook that grabs the can and lifts it like a fork lift. The trash collectors don't even get out of the trucks.

Midmarsh John said...

We have three wheelie bins - rubbish, recycle and green waste. The latter has to be paid for with an extra yearly charge.