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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

...to think the bin collections are getting 'jobsworth'

148 replies

MrsMuddlePluck · 28/07/2017 23:13

Put my bins out yesterday, including 4 tied black bags that I forgot to put out last week, that wouldn't fit in my wheelie bin. Bin collection has been and the bags have been left for dogs etc to dig into. The sacks had food waste in them so made a bit of a mess. Their reason, when I complained, is that if it doesn't fit in the wheelie bin, they wont take it and I should take it to the local dump [which is hell to get to now due to reduced times and huge queues.]. They only needed to chuck the bags in the back of the van?

AIBU to expect bin men to collect bags of household waste? Its what I pay my council tax for.

OP posts:
barrygibbscheekbones · 29/07/2017 10:57

They do collect rubbish daily in Spain, but in the Spanish cities I've visited, it's not from individual houses/flats. They have those big communal bins in every street, with separate recycling sections. People take their rubbish out to the communal bins as soon as a small bag is full, and the communal bins are emptied daily, often overnight.

Elendon · 29/07/2017 12:08

Local tip? Obviously you are children born in the 50s.

It's called recycling centre now. The local recycling centre may well have been closed but all counties should have one within 10 miles of where you live.

Just get on board with recycling, reuse and reduce.

Elendon · 29/07/2017 12:09

Plus we are leaving the EU, what has recycling in Spain (or any other non British country) got to do with this?

Elendon · 29/07/2017 12:11

And yes to contents of nappies down the toilet.

I'm not paying extra in council tax because people are too bloody lazy to put out their bins and not recycling properly.

JaceLancs · 29/07/2017 12:18

Family of 3 here - mostly cook fresh so not tons of packaging
Bin emptied fortnightly - try and recycle as much as possible so usually is 1/2 to 2/3 full when collected
Only time we have a problem is if forget to put it out then have to manage a month - or if having a clear out in which case have to go to tip

JacquesHammer · 29/07/2017 12:25

Local tip? Obviously you are children born in the 50s

Nope. Not until end of 1979. It's generally referred to still as "the tip" around here. And yes, there is still a deposit for "general waste".

Putting rubbish in neighbours bins is a good idea IF you check it with them first.

Blerg · 29/07/2017 12:28

Where I live the recycling they take is pretty minimal. I use big collection bins in town and DH sometimes drives to the tip, sorry, recycling centre.

If they don't collect food waste and you don't have an option to compost, can you take it to the recycling centre does anyone know? Not sure they have a relevant bin thing. Also storing and toting a big vat of rotting food could be tricky.

bittyboo · 29/07/2017 12:32

Recycle your food waste and that will help.

Lucysky2017 · 29/07/2017 12:38

The tip is the same thing. Yes the tip has about 5 different bays (I attend there about once a month -I am an expert on our council tip but call it what you like) and it has general waste, cardboard, garden refuse, metal and all the other sections.

Food waste - I believe when they empty our garden waste bin they often tip wood waste into the same van (both compost down) so you would probably if you had enough to make the trip worthwhile take it to the garden waste section at the council tip but much more usual for those lucky enough to have a garden or allotment might be to use it to make your own compost. My parents always kept it and my children's other grandparents too. in fact my great grandmother fed it to the pig in her garden which she kept for meat (she had 11 children to feed).

paulapantsdown · 29/07/2017 12:42

I used to tip ours at xmas. Then one week they left a load of rubbish strewn all over the road outside my house when they picked up a bag that the foxes had got at. (the bags were left out at 7am - our foxes in London are no longer noctural!). I think if they are refuse men, then they should not leave refuse all over the road, but I cleaned it up anyway.
They left two other bags also, which may have been a mistake.

After I cleaned up the mess I called the council re the left bags. They were collected that afternoon, but my rubbish was ignored for the following month - they took my neighbours both sides and left mine. I can only assume out of spite for calling their boss on them. Knobs never got another tip from me.

PurpleMinionMummy · 29/07/2017 13:10

I don't think they are jobsworths. If they take your extra 4 they have to take everyone's. that will just lead to people being lazy and not recycling if they willingly take it. You can buy orange/clear bags for additional rubbish in my area which they will take outside of the bins, but obviously you pay extra for it. Rightly so.

I love our binmen. They might be 'jobsworths' (who wouldn't be if it put their job on the line) but they work bloody hard. They always run around to get out the way asap if they're blocking the street for example.

TheHiphopopotamus · 29/07/2017 13:27

It's because the first thing the tory govt did was limit their funds

Ha. Ha.

Our general waste bin collection service went to fortnightly collections under a Labour Government. They are still at two weekly collections with cardboard and bottles now at once a month. Green and garden waste collection completely stops in Oct until March.

Meanwhile, our Labour run council have just awarded themselves a 4% pay rise. So please don't try and tell me that's it down to Tories cutting money/service because Labour are just as fucking bad.

Ericaequites · 29/07/2017 13:27

To prevent maggots in your bin, put a handful of mothballs in the bottom.

daisypond · 29/07/2017 13:36

Mothballs have been illegal for years - if they're the traditional kind, made of naphthalene.

crazycatgal · 29/07/2017 13:51

@Elendon I was born in 1994...

FunctionalAnatomy · 29/07/2017 13:52

What we really need to do is have a coordinated, nationwide action where we remove all the unnecessary packaging just before we leave the supermarket...

ThroughThickAndThin01 · 29/07/2017 14:05

Our bin men are brilliant. They take as many sacks as we put out. Plus extra stuff. They don't like taking it out of wheelie bins though! We don't have wheelie bins here.

alltouchedout · 29/07/2017 14:08

Our black (general waste) bins have been significantly reduced in size. There have been no additions to what can be recycled. Our council are patting themselves on the back for their action and declaring it has been a great success, yet everyone's yards and alleyways and the streets are full of rubbish now. Some success.

Want2bSupermum · 29/07/2017 15:11

The landfill space argument is very hollow to me. I really don't understand why the heck there aren't incinerators in the UK. Here in New Jersey which was dumping rubbish out at sea just a few years ago now has a couple. They generate power, I recall them saying it's enough to power 150 homes all year round.

We pay a lot for property taxes but you get what you pay for. To give an idea of how much we pay, its $15k a year for our home. Bigger homes are $20-25k and McMansion houses out in the burbs pay up to $35k a year.

Fantastictwistsand · 29/07/2017 15:28

Functional I love that idea. I shop at Aldi as well so I always have to pack at the shelf and there's a bin right there. I'll look like a loon but still.

theluckiest · 29/07/2017 15:45

Birmingham here too. I dream of a waste collection at the moment. I actually did - I was in bed and imagined the sound of the lorry. Sadly, it was just a dream.

It's stinking. And of course, every man and his dog has gone to the tip so the queues are insane.

At least it's not got to the epic lows of the last strike - the week before and then after Christmas until New Year. The stench of rotting turkey carcasses on our road was a delight.

BarbarianMum · 29/07/2017 16:22

We have an incinerator in our town supermum. It fucks up the air quality, despite constant upgrades on the scrubbers and filters. But hey, it's situated so the fumes blow over the poorer end of town, so that's ok. Hmm

user1498726699 · 29/07/2017 16:31

YANBU. They missed our food bin as it was duly put out at end of drive but DS had put it behind the recycling wheelie bins. They just had to reach around them.

When I logged that they'd missed it, I was told that it should have been visible as they don't have time to hunt for them and they refused to come back for it!

NoWhereToGoo · 29/07/2017 16:44

Yabu!

DH is a binman. Starts work at 5 am gets home between 5/6pm. If he took extra rubbish for everyone then he'd never be home!

And yes public do report them if they are seen taking extra rubbish, why should someone lose their job because you've forgotten to put rubbish out and are too lazy to go to the tip??

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726 · 29/07/2017 16:55

OP, have you heard of the Landfill Directive? It compels councils to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill and is progressively more restrictive as time passes? This is why your binmen can't take extra waste. Fines to the council for failure to meet targets (that you'll ultimately pay for in your council tax) are high

I used to work in council waste management and used to deal with lots of whining members of the public who just don't comprehend that the amount they pay in council task doesn't mean they can have collections as they want - or they can but they'll need to contract privately for those and pay for them separately. Waste management budget was at about 6% of total when I was in that industry.

Recycling of everything possible is what we now have to do. It's not a new concept it's been around for many years now and it's going to get tougher for those who won't/don't. Most councils made provision for households with special needs.

I'm not in that area of wastes management now, in the private sector, but still listening to the same type of people whining and not doing.