Where do you put your rubbish and you live in a flat?

[EachandEveryone]

On a busy high street where there’s no access to dustbins. The council tells us it’s collection day on a Wednesday and recycling hasn’t come here yet. What do you do with your rubbish during the week? Three adults. If we put it in the mutual hall the whole place stinks as soon as you open the front door. It’s s high street nowhere to put bins. The shops get theirs collected every day. I’ve been fined £400 he rang the bell on Wednesday morning and I was so shocked I forgot to say Wednesday is collection day. I feel sick to the stomach.

We live in a flat and we have the usual small kitchen bins (paper, glas, yellow and grey waste and bio - IKEA is your friend here)
And we take it down to the appropriate communal bins when neccessary. There has to be a designated place for bins to be collected from or the landlord / property manager is in trouble.
The different collection vans come round regularily - the schedule is online - they have special keys to get access to the place.
But I am in a different country so no help to you.

What have you been fined for?

Underground containers in the neighbourhood or communal bins in the neighborhood. This is something I check before getting a new place, because I've had problems in the past.

We just have to keep it in the flat, as out of the way as possible.

What were you fined for, and by whom?

I got fined for fly tipping as on I put the black bag out on the correct day. It was with a pile of others because it’s all we can do. He opened it and went through it so it looks ten times worse than it was. He did say about not recycling but it’s not down our street yet. I can’t wait to recycle but so far we have not been given any info on it. There are no communal bins I really can’t see how we are going to do it we will be engulfed. I can’t even think about the litter trays. It’s from NSL on behalf of the council.

Right so you’ve been fined for putting your bin out on bin day? well you clearly won’t be paying that. Appeal it. He needs a refresher course in his training.

If you are having problems I’d contact your landlord in the first instance, then the waste management dept of the council if your landlord can’t/won’t help.

Not a bin as such we have no room for bins it was our black bags. The neighbour got fine as well he did it on another day. We asked years ago for wheelie bins and we were told they would obstruct the street. I dont know what the landlord could do really.

When I lived in a flat on a main road with no space for private wheelie bins, the council provided large dumpster-type bins on street corners for residents to put their rubbish into. We did also had recycling baskets that we’d keep in our flats and put out for weekly collection. It’s ridiculous that you’re being fined - definitely appeal.

The trouble with having them on the high street though is every passerby will use them

I lived on a pedestrianised shipping street for a bit and we had to put bags out before 7am and there was a collection every day.

Do you have a garden or rear alleyway you could put a wheelie bin?

When I lived in a flat like that we had collections every week day, the council then put in the dumpster style of bins, one for general waste and one for paper and one for glass.

My daughters high street flat has a dumpster outside. Not perfect but ok. Very common in Europe, too.

There are collections every week day supposedly just for the shops and i really get that people take advantage of that leaving carboard boxes and big vats of empty ccoking oil etc. Ive been told that the shops pay extra to have their rubbish taken away daily. Ive also been told if my shop doesnt mind i can also put down a bag tied up properly any day of the week and i have sometimes done that. However this agency that give put the fines dont kniw this do they? Im at my wits end i cant pay £400 upfront and then try to claim it back. If i end up paying do these people usually take installments?

The back alleyway is full of workshops and it would be dangerous going up and down the fire escape with rubbish.

My local councillor has told me that from the week after next we will be having five collections a week and be given six months supply of bags. Do you think thats grounds for an appeal as well as it being the official day anyway?

I don't think the change in rules would help you in contesting, as I think you're saying you put the bag out on collection day? It sounds like the fine was something to do with the rubbish bag or its location.

Don't pay the fine. Just google "X council contest fine fly-tipping" or "X council contest fixed penalty notice" and it will tell you what to do and the grounds to contest.

You should look carefully at the guidance they provide online for how to put your rubbish out. Your argument would be that either the person who gave the fine was mistaken as it was collection day OR their guidance on positioning is not clear.

For example, here is the guidance from Wandsworth council:
www.wandsworth.gov.uk/info/200496/rubbish_and_recycling_collections/2142/how_to_leave_your_rubbish_and_recycling_out

Say you were fined for not putting the bag in the right place, you could argue that the term "by the entrance to your home" was ambiguous.

I’m guessing there’s never been a guide. Honestly it’s terrible. See enclosed photo. That’s every morning at 6am it seems to appear during the night