Comments on: Get set for another rubbish city council debate https://thechamberlainfiles.com/get-set-for-another-rubbish-city-council-debate/5443 Politics, LEPs and economic development in the West Midlands Mon, 03 Dec 2012 19:50:06 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Richard Gurney (@Tembo11RG) https://thechamberlainfiles.com/get-set-for-another-rubbish-city-council-debate/5443#comment-3478 Richard Gurney (@Tembo11RG) Thu, 29 Nov 2012 10:52:07 +0000 https://thechamberlainfiles.com/?p=5443#comment-3478 N Warwickshire has at present with fortnightly green bin for garden & multiple bags/boxes for other recyc's (to go to one wheely bin for recyc's soon ~not sure about garden) # A change to Anaerobic Digestion (to give Biogas) could make a mixed food/garden/paper & card weekly collection workable with a second bin for glass/metal/plastic that could probably be fortnightly. There would still be a (but now smaller) problem with what happens to anything that doesn't fit to either of the two bins N Warwickshire has at present with fortnightly green bin for garden & multiple bags/boxes for other recyc’s (to go to one wheely bin for recyc’s soon ~not sure about garden)
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A change to Anaerobic Digestion (to give Biogas) could make a mixed food/garden/paper & card weekly collection workable with a second bin for glass/metal/plastic that could probably be fortnightly. There would still be a (but now smaller) problem with what happens to anything that doesn’t fit to either of the two bins

]]> By: Julia Larden https://thechamberlainfiles.com/get-set-for-another-rubbish-city-council-debate/5443#comment-3449 Julia Larden Tue, 27 Nov 2012 13:11:11 +0000 https://thechamberlainfiles.com/?p=5443#comment-3449 Twenty percent of the properties in Birmingham is flats and thirty percent is terraced housing. The areas where surveys about wheelie bins have been carried out by the Lib-Dems are also areas where there is a high ratio of terraced houses. The problem with these properties is that wheelie bins are likely to get left outside - permanently. This is very unsightly. This is not simply about unsightly black bags versus more 'sightly' wheelie bins. Sure black bags are not problem free. Sure, they can split open, be pulled open by animals or be left untied so rubbish blows around, or get put out on the wrong day and hangs around, I am well aware of all that. BUT then rubbish left in the street is seldom permanent and can be tackled by other residents if necessary. This will not be the case with the wheelie bins, especially if there are three to every household: we will be powerless. Moreover to suggest that three wheelie bins per household is a smart modern ecological solution is misleading. Many councils seem to have long since moved beyond such primitive and clunky arrangements. There are various alternatives which have not been explored. These included separate sealed boxes which can be carried through the house, for food waste which can then be easily composted - much more ecological and it removes the problem of bags being torn open by hungry animals. Another solution which some councils use is various kinds of automatic sorting at a later point. So far from being up-to-date the Birmingham scheme of three wheelie bins per household seems old fashioned, bumbling, badly thought out and very expensive to implement: the worst of all possible worlds. Twenty percent of the properties in Birmingham is flats and thirty percent is terraced housing. The areas where surveys about wheelie bins have been carried out by the Lib-Dems are also areas where there is a high ratio of terraced houses. The problem with these properties is that wheelie bins are likely to get left outside – permanently. This is very unsightly. This is not simply about unsightly black bags versus more ‘sightly’ wheelie bins. Sure black bags are not problem free. Sure, they can split open, be pulled open by animals or be left untied so rubbish blows around, or get put out on the wrong day and hangs around, I am well aware of all that. BUT then rubbish left in the street is seldom permanent and can be tackled by other residents if necessary. This will not be the case with the wheelie bins, especially if there are three to every household: we will be powerless.

Moreover to suggest that three wheelie bins per household is a smart modern ecological solution is misleading. Many councils seem to have long since moved beyond such primitive and clunky arrangements. There are various alternatives which have not been explored. These included separate sealed boxes which can be carried through the house, for food waste which can then be easily composted – much more ecological and it removes the problem of bags being torn open by hungry animals. Another solution which some councils use is various kinds of automatic sorting at a later point. So far from being up-to-date the Birmingham scheme of three wheelie bins per household seems old fashioned, bumbling, badly thought out and very expensive to implement: the worst of all possible worlds.

]]> By: Peter Smallbone https://thechamberlainfiles.com/get-set-for-another-rubbish-city-council-debate/5443#comment-3447 Peter Smallbone Tue, 27 Nov 2012 10:11:30 +0000 https://thechamberlainfiles.com/?p=5443#comment-3447 Surely the big story isn't the wheelie bins per se but the near-certainty that this signals a move to fortnightly collections of 'black bag' waste. I have tried and failed to locate a single authority in the country that has both wheelie bins and weekly collections. Surely the big story isn’t the wheelie bins per se but the near-certainty that this signals a move to fortnightly collections of ‘black bag’ waste. I have tried and failed to locate a single authority in the country that has both wheelie bins and weekly collections.

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