Council not giving extra allowance for those whose bin dates not changed

It’s really pissed me off this year as our council haven’t changed the days, just ignored the collection. So we have 3wks to wait on one bin being collected and 4wks on the other. They won’t take the bin if the lid isn’t shut.

We've got a spare bin when we had a new one delivered but they never took away the old one so we get that out at Christmas!

These days loads of wrapping paper is recyclable. All the major supermarkets including Aldi sell the brown paper type (including lovely colourful versions) so there's literally no excuse for using non recyclable paper. I don't understand why anyone is still buying the foil type that isn't recyclable now

Last year we missed for Christmas then missed for bad weather so went from something like 9 Dec to 20 Jan. Still no extra allowed.

I must be in a lucky minority because there is no limit on our bins. We have weekly collections for both recycling and rubbish and they just take what we put out. We have old fashioned black bins with lids (use black sacks for those) and green boxes for recycling (I put the recycling stuff in white bags and stick them in or near the box). I live in a conversion so also have a downstairs neighbour who puts rubbish out. They’ve never not taken anything.

Garden rubbish is once a fortnight and we have bags from the council for that. Bulky collections £10 per item. Although the people who collect those are great and will take whatever is out there, they aren’t sticklers about it. What do people do if you don’t drive and so can’t take anything to the tip?

I have a garden but it's very narrow (8' wide) so I don't have the space for a compost bin, I also have very little need for compost so while I try and recycle as much as possible I would dig my heels in if the council wanted me to have a compost bin!

I always buy recyclable wrapping paper, this year from Sainsbury’s and Waitrose ? Am I being misled ?!

You could ask a neighbour who lives alone, as I do, if you can put stuff in their bins.

Why on earth are you throwing gift bags away?! They can be reused - don’t you know about the “mums’ gift bag mafia”?

Not everyone has food waste deliveries or access to somewhere to put a compost bin.

Doesn’t your council give you a leaflet with revised collection dates? Or an email? Ours do both. It’s quite well planned …. They don’t just ‘decide to turn up’.

We have half size black bins which are collected every two weeks.

Our council will not take any wrapping paper in the recycling, not even recyclable, as they say most of the paper labelled recyclable is actually too thin for them to recycle, so it has to go in the black bin. They will only take plain brown paper in the recycling. We aren’t allowed any bags in addition to the small black bin this year either.

Lots of us are saying
a) recycling bins are already full, with fewer collections over xmas
b) food waste bins are already more than full, with fewer collections over xmas

What is a 'sort it centre'? We have one local recycling and refuse centre which is booked up. This is truthfully what it's like living in some parts of London.

As I said above I don't mind working out what to do - as others, putting flat cardboard behind cupboards, in fact we put some clean recycling in the loft! But it gets irksome with so many continuing to just deny it's a thing.

thanks to this thread i have just checked and it turns out extra recycling can be taken

• All rubbish should be contained within the rubbish bin with the lid closed as this reduces the likely-hood of animals and birds accessing the waste. Extra rubbish will not be taken.
• Extra recycling can be presented next to the bin in white or clear bags, except for glass which must be put into the recycling bin

Yes exactly, it's not a consolation prize for the inconvenience of having your bin date changed or christmas = more waste produced -its acknowledging that 2 week collection (or however often your non recyclables are collected) = 1 full bin of rubbish therefore the extra 1/2 days worth has to go somewhere.

Don't worry OP your council will soon realise other places don't bother with things like rationality and stop giving anyone extra days - mine doesn't and never has.

I’m also lucky to live in an area where you can have an extra recycling bin for no extra charge, and I have the space for it. Would definitely recommend checking if you get a lot of deliveries!

Love this idea. One of the many reasons why it is a good idea to know your neighbours.

I can’t believe people are throwing away gift bags - surely they get reused a lot of times? Just take the tag off!

We’ve also started using Christmas bags made of material which you can reuse again and again. Even if it ends up in someone else’s house they can reuse.

That's unusual, and I think by early next year every council has to offer it.

Many posters have said what can't be recycled. I don't have the space to keep the recycling until I have enough to make a dump/recycling run worthwhile and even if I did I don't want to waste time at the weekend sitting in a queue at the dump. As well as that it's extra car journeys which surely can't be good for the environment.

I think three things can be true - it's on households to plan and manage waste, but also on supermarket regulators to create the right incentives along the whole food and waste chain. Finally it's for councils to use their resources sensibly and provide the right waste collection for the types of housing stock they have. If they expect every house with a garden to do effective composting. for example, which doesn't seem outrageous - there needs to be more support for how to do it. I've tried twice in my previous home and set it up wrong somehow, and both times ended up with a pile of heaving smelly maggots and flies but no actual compost (!)

Then there's the broader waste issues of our working and purchasing behaviours. If you work super long hours you might get a lot of presents delivered. Plus, many shops don't have a full range on the shelf now and you must order specific items. So before Christmas you already have loads of additional recyclable waste - amazon boxes and packaging etc. We had extra rubbish on Xmas eve from simply unpacking and wrapping our children's gifts, or customising the delivery boxes to look like presents.

food waste is not recycled in my area

Then bag it all up and take to a sort it centre. Most wrapping paper can be recycled it shouldn't be in the black bin anyway. Food waste in food bin, and all bottles and cans etc can be recycled. What exactly is going in.the black bin that can't be recycled??

I don’t buy it. But people who give gifts to me/ my family still do. And the recyclable gift wrap ends up in their houses and the non-recyclable in mine. Have you really never come across the concept of gift-giving? 🤷‍♀️

All the sticky tape needs removing too.