Edinburgh bin strike

[fortunately2022]

Any fellow Edinburgh resident wanting to share plans for bins over the next 10 days?

I stay fairly central with a rat problem already at the communal bins :(

Are we still allowed to use the dumps? I didn't see that listed as a solution but surely the most obvious one (for those with a car)

Dumps are closed as well

I'm really worried about food waste in particular. I'm in a flat with no garden (communal or otherwise) and I can't store it in the flat so I don't know what to do with it!

We had a bin strike in the summer about 5 years ago. In the end, the whole street chose a grass verge and the pile started. By the time the bin men came, everyone had an empty bin because it seemed easier for the crews to just clear this one pile. It was immense and disgusting all at once. The collections also took a while to get back to normal after they returned to work as they cleared the backlog.

Nightmare.

Bin strikes, bus strikes, rail strikes, its all going to shit, ain't it?

When we had one a few years back I just minimised food waste as much as possible and separated inoffensive rubbish (clean plastic packaging etc) which I really couldn't cut down on and stored it in a wardrobe until the bins were emptied.

For food waste, only cook what you need, or keep leftovers for lunch the next day. Wash and scrub but don't peel vegetables. Use teabags twice. Avoid things like eggs or whole chickens which generate unavoidable food waste (shells / bones).

I found freezer meals were my friend - I could get out exactly the right amount of fish fingers / chips / peas / vegetables etc and there was no food waste.

You need to think about it a bit but it's surprising how much you can cut down food waste with a little care.

Madness! Can see flytipping increasing.....

The council advice is to get strong black bin bags and store waste. Wash recycling and squash it and store it. Great if you have space not great otherwise. It's also not been well advertised I found out by chance on Tuesday so I suspect people won't know

And it's festival time so millions of visitors - but commercial waste is still being picked up so that should help

As commercial waste is still being collected, could you add yours to the nearest business premises’ bins, if they have space in them?
Or if visiting friends outside Edinburgh, ask if you can bring a securely tied bin bag of waste to add to their bin?
I’m in Perthshire and will offer to take waste for my DDs in Edinburgh if necessary.

If you have a search on Google, many people in England are now on fortnightly waste collections. The suggestions from people adjusting to that might help.

Agree with splitting out "clean" rubbish so the smelly bin is the minimum you can make it. If you are really desperate for storage of food waste, can you make a bag in the freezer for waste, and keep it frozen until collections are back up and running?

My plan is to clean everything possible and double bag everything I can't clean.

Can you get a stash of smaller carrier bags and use one each day as your bin, then when you go out take it with you and find a public bin to put it in?

Emptying public bins won't be happening as much as usual either. And it's Fringe. Not a great option imo.

We already have fortnightly collections in Edinburgh, and the council also collects from public bins so they will not be emptied too.

Ten days? Do you not have fortnightly collections?

If you're that desperate, just you know pay a private company to come and take it away?

We’ve been on fortnightly bin collections in Edinburgh for years. I’m guessing supermarkets and the like have private waste collections so if desperate will drop there.

The local park bins are full at the moment anyway so they’ll be disgusting very soon - all the food wrappers and dog shit bags will be lying around then thrown about the place by foxes and seagulls. I’ve got some big plastic tubs going spare which I might stick a bin bag in and shove in the park, won’t stop the foxes but it might help a bit.

Do you have separated recycling?
Our family of 4 only have 1 small black bag of waste a fortnight.
Everything else is washed and recycled. That’s not wet, or smelly so can be stored for longer. Squash everything as much as possible to make it smaller. Food waste could be more tricky but not peeling potatoes, cooking chickens, using cafetière coffee etc will considerably cut down that waste.

it’ll be a nuisance no doubt, that’s the point but it’s doable.

The issue is that for most people it's longer than two weeks. So my bins were collected a week ago and now won't be collected again for another two weeks. That's quite a lot of stuff. Lots of the roadside bins haven't been collected so are already full.

But if your fortnightly bin collection doesn't happen in those ten days, it'll be four weeks before your next collection.

Most likely won't separate food waste as it will be rank after a month of not collecting (fortnightly collection already and being missed means 4 weeks). Recently have seen a rat in the garden so we will need to be careful. Once they come back on the city centre is to be prioritised for clean up (tourists) so it will be grim elsewhere, especially in the communal bin areas with tenements. Loads of leith got smaller bins recently and more frequently collection so it will be awful.

Our grey bin would have been emptied next week, but that's in the 10 day strike window, plus another wait due to the fortnightly collections. That's 4 weeks worth of two kids in nappies in the summer heat... No idea what we are meant to do about that without really pissing of the neighbours with the smell.

Our bins get emptied once a week as its shared. We really are very central so other people often see our bins and put rubbish in thinking its just a street bin. Which due to the festival has gotten worse. What a nightmare Mice and rats are already an issue

What are the dates of the strike? I vaguely knew of it but don't actually know the exact dates

I'm fairly central too but in a cul de sac so we have full size wheely bins each at least

When I lived in the very centre of Edinburgh we just put bin bags straight out onto the street I think once but perhaps even twice a week. It was a UNESCO world heritage area so no wheelie or even communal bins. This bin strike must be awful for people living in that area if it's still that same.

It’s not going to be just Edinburgh
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-62575005