Neighbours complaining about the size of my binbags

[OKMorty]

AIBU to think that I have the right to use 15 litre bin bags? I mean what difference does it make? 2 x 8 litres bags v 1x 15 litre.

Surely it’s more environmentally friendly to use one bag than two for equal amounts of rubbish?

Anyway this all kicked off because a neighbour complained about the size of my rubbish bags.

For context there are 2 normal sized bins and 1 large one between 4 flats. I usually fill 1/2 of 1 normal sized bin (being just me) wheras the other flats have at least 2 occupants per flat.

If the bins are shared, the "bin quota" should not be per person, it should be per flat. Many things that go into the non-recyclable waste bin are exactly the same size regardless of the number of residents in the household.

Not sure what your neighbour is really complaining about though, is it that your bag goes in just before collection day and takes up the rest of the space so they can no longer fit theirs in?

I am cracking up at the '15L is a lot of rubbish' comments. So keen to be competitive about how little rubbish they create compared to everyone else they haven't even twigged how little 15L is bonkers.

I think the only things threads like this achieve is to demonstrate how inconsistent and disjointed the recycling system in the UK is.

The only way to find out how to recycle something in your area is to look on your council's website, or other local official information. Putting tetrapaks, glass, plastics (and remember there are lots of different types) in your own recycling because someone on Mumsnet said that they can go in their recycling in a different area is just likely to lead to all that waste going to landfill or incineration because this is what many councils do with 'contaminated' recycling because they can't/won't separate out the 'wrong' type of recycling.

I may be being unfairly cynical but I feel that the notion that Pringles cans are recyclable is greenwash.

Ah now I see that they can't be without special arrangements. That makes sense.

We recycle everything we can, even when it comes to slashing things like Pringles cans and keeping what we can't recycle kerbside aside for recycling in the local recycling centres. But we still don't recycle anywhere near as much as I used to when I lived somewhere else because our local council doesn't accept as much.

We also compost as much as we can. But we still have at least one 50l bin bag out per week. When it was just me and DH there wasn't twice as much rubbish as when I lived alone, and with the DC there isn't quadruple the amount either so a single person won't necessarily generate half the amount of rubbish as two.

We don't have a special arrangements for pringles tubs! I have never heard of them having to be collected by UPS

You might be right prob. I heard the other day that one of the major recycling schemes (might be crisp packets) hasn't actually done any recycling yet and they're all being held somewhere until they can work out what to do with them.

Also DP sometimes works in the waste industry and a lot of the companies like the ones he has worked for are 'waste transfer stations' that basically move waste around and then hold onto it until someone will pay the company the most for it, or charge them the least to take it away and a lot of the money that companies like the one he works for is due to how successful they are in speculating on waste trading.

Order another bin from the council?

Even though I would not approach someone about it I am with the neighbours on this one.

We are allocated a 120L bin for collection each week (each free standing house). We have decreased the size of our kitchen rubbish bin as we previously had a large one but found that we struggled to get more than 2 bags into the outside 120L bin. By using a smaller kitchen bin we can fit more smaller bags into the outside bin even though the total amount of waste is the same. It’s about how the bags of waste pack into the outside bin not the volume of waste. The large bags mean lots of empty room at the edges/sides that another large bag cannot fit into so you are wasting the volume of the collection bin. Lots of small bags fill the volume better.

For anyone about to bitch that 120L a week of non recyclable waste is too much - it is what it is. We also have a 240L recycling bin collected fortnightly and a 240L garden refuse bin (no compost) collected fortnightly. That’s what each house is allocated here.

Manufacturing and packaging industries need to fund research into packaging that is fit for purpose and easily recyclable and councils need to provide suitable collection facilities at neighbourhood (not necessarily individual) level for as much waste as possible.

I recently looked into recycling cat food sachets (no they won't eat food out of tins, I've tried) and the only way to do it is collect them all up and take them to an RSPCA shop around 10 miles away that I never have any other reason to go near and is only open when I'm at work, apart from on Saturdays, so not really practical or environmentally concious.

My kitchen bin is 20 litres and we usually fill the best part of three bags a fortnight for a family of four, including both adults mainly working at home. It's mainly unrecyclable packaging.

I would have thought one 15 litre bin a week for a single adult is fair enough.

Christ. Some people have far too much time on their hands.

I have wondered about Pringles cans. OH has a bit of a Pringles addiction and one week I counted 8 pringles cans (he waits until I’ve gone to bed then pigs out basically). The recycling takes them all the same. I often wonder if they actually can recycle most of what they collect.

I wonder where the OP lives that life is so perfect neighbours bin bags are enough of a worry to start a disagreement.

Round here it's knife crime

Your bin quota is per household not per person as it’s related to council tax. Even if you get the single person’s discount on council tax, if you’re only using half a small bin and not using the larger bin at all I doubt you’re using more than your quota.

Your neighbour needs to get a life. Just ignore them.

Those measurements don’t sound right at all- it would mean your rubbish bin, is smaller than normal kitchen bins.

I don't see how it can possibly be a 15litre bag. That's smaller than a typical pedal bin.

Some people use the big black bags, which are 60 litres. I wouldn't, because if you have 60 litres of rubbish in your kitchen it will be smelly before it's full. It would be possible for one person to fill it in a week, if you had lots of packets, or were stripping wallpaper and didn't squash things flat. If you filled it with potato peelings you wouldn't be able to lift it.

See bag sizes here

p.s.

There are three countries in the world that don't use IS (metric) measurements.

If it was a 15 UK gallon bag that would be 68 litres.

if it was a 15 US gallon bag that would be 57 litres

And the post would make some sense.

It tells you the Pringles can situation on their website.

"You only take the rubbish out of your flat once a week? Won't that get quite unpleasant over summer?"

Every two weeks for me Brendas and it is unpleasant. You think a week is bad!

We put out three 50l bags a week and the same in recycling, I do compost but other food waste isn't collected separately here. I'd estimate that a large proportion of our waste is non recyclable black plastics like you get when you buy fish etc from the supermarket, tetrapaks, nappies and cat litter. We also don't have wheelie bins (we do we bought one to stop the foxes but the bin men won't empty it we have to leave bags on the curb). In the UK with current recycling policy one 8l bag a week is tiny

Just for the doubters, obviously I can’t say whether OP is right or wrong in describing the volume of her bags, but my bin is a Brabantia 16 litre one and is slightly taller than a typical pedal bin - it’s rectangular though (and yes, I have checked the bag size). I probably use about 3 bags per fortnight which equates to about a third of the bin (I realise not all councils’ bins are the same size).
I don’t have food waste recycling but cardboard, paper, cans and some plastic is recycled into a separate bin.

Our local authority allows us one recycling bag per household, per week. We are only allowed to use the council supplied recycling bags and can only recycle cardboard, paper and plastic bottles. The bags are printed with a list of what can and can't be recycled - the list of what we cannot put in the bag is far longer than the list of things we can put in. For those of us lu ky enough to have transport to our local dump, not only do we have to take our council tax bill as evidence we are entitled to use it, but if we go more than twice a month, the car registration recognition system ensures we get a letter warning us we are overusing the facility. This is why, in our street and several others I drive down on bin collection day, I see every house with a half full recycling bag and at least one, but usually several, full bin bags.
I am amazed, and envious, of those of you whose councils have a more enlightened approach to recycling.