To think the French system of rubbish disposal is preferable to all these bins?

[Pottedpalm]

I have been spending a lot of time on Rightmove recently and it has reinforced my dislike of the system we have. In areas of small terraced houses the bins often have to be left at the front and locally every house has three bins. It’s even worse where there are no gardens and all the bins are lined up on the pavement.
One large house, split into flats, had nine bins under the front window of the ground floor property.
In areas of France and Spain and probably other continental countries, there are large bins on every street for the various categories of waste. These are emptied very frequently during the night. I think this is is a better system; food type smelly waste can be removed daily and recycling less often.
I suppose people might object if the bins are placed too near to their homes, but in places I have stayed the residents used the bins tidily.

Not like the "bin police" we have where I live now, you can't even throw a microwave out without getting pulled up on it.

That must be a joke, surely!

I used to live in a small block of flats, a converted Victorian building. Out front (but hidden from the street behind a hedge) we had a big dumpster for our rubbish. One morning I took a black bag out with me in the way to work but as I chucked it in I accidentally also chucked my front door keys in! The dumpster was too deep (and my arms too short) to retrieve the keys so I ended up flagging down a passing tall young man to reach in and get them for me. I was so grateful- I always felt that it would have been a brilliant start to a rom com. Sadly he just went on his way and I never saw him again

I would not want them emptied during the night. Already lived in Reading where they collect the glass from the pubs at 5:30am, we moved out because of the awful noise.

I always think it is such a shame on Gogglebox that the Siddiquis have to have those ugly wheely bins outside their terraced house in Derby.

@DumplingsAndStew: I don't think that would work here as - perfectly demonstrated during the past year - we're a pretty selfish nation.

People would fill the bins with all manner of their shit - microwaves for example, and household clear outs - meaning that others couldn't fit in their rubbish, and that many items wouldn't be disposed of properly.

This, precisely. Too many people refusing to do the most obvious and simple things (like flatten plastic bottles, or flat-pack a cardboard box), then complain their bin is full. No shit, Sherlock, you just filled it with fresh air. "Can we use yours?" "No. Flat pack that box and squish those bottles. Then your bin won't be full." "I'm not getting muck/rubbish out of a bin!!" "That's your choice, but no, you can't use our bin." We were mean for that, apparently. They were the ones trogging to the tip regularly because we were too stupid/pig-headed to flat-pack a cardboard box, or squish the air out of the plastic bottles.

Those massive communal bins work well when people take responsibility for their own rubbish. The places I've lived in France and Spain, the communal bins system works. I don't see that working here in the UK, simply because there's a very different mindset and culture.

A communal system only works if people have the mobility to take their waste to the communal bins.

In addition communal bins tend to be abused. People don’t put their rubbish in correctly or recycle properly. Knowing the bin men can’t tell who is the culprit.

Having lived with this system for a few months in an eu country I can say our way is the best one.

Also, too many people in the UK STILL refuse to recycle and sort their rubish properly so we always being left with overflowing bins that the bin men refuse to empty, and they stay there until the council is eventually, reluctantly forced to remove them because they are becoming an environmental health hazard.

Oh this solves our problem. Our flats have a communal large bin but next doors bins are left next to or in-front of our flats door instead of inside the gate next door a meter or two away. It's like our door is invisible. Next door used to be houses but have been converted into flats so they have a lot of bins. When we moved in I mistook them for our bins. We got a letter telling us off for using the neighbouring bins.

Never thought I’d say this but we’ve moved counties and I miss the food waste bin.
I also don’t particularly appreciate the fact that glass here goes in a separate (easily viewable) box, no one needs to see anyone’s empties

I live in Cornwall and we don't have wheelie bins or communal bins! The rubbish is a constant nightmare as there is nowhere to put it all.

Recycling is once a fortnight and it all piles up.

Rubbish really bloody gets to me. I feel I'm surrounded by it.

You can always get one, movinghouse- I'm in Cornwall and my neighbour's got one. I meanwhile, have a standard black plastic bin that, owing to it being incredibly windy up here, roams the cul- de sac uncontrollably - it's completely feral

That wouldn't work in my city. The rubbish would be put in the wrong bins. There would be other rubbish dumped in the bins. Flytipping is rife.

We had this system in France.

However, 1. The bins were always too full/overflowing 2. Recycling was minimal 3. If in a house, like we were, it is a trek with the bins by foot (the alternative being driving with food waste to the binds in the car ... not pleasant in hot weather)

@SagelyNodding

Where I am in France there are buried separate waste containers. 1 for non-recyclables, one for all recycling except glass and one for glass. The bins are low and can be operated by hand or by using a foot pedal thing. Generally there is a clothes recycling bin too. It's a great system, clean and emptied regularly, especially in summer.

The old dumpster style bins are being phased out it seems.

Going to the dump is also a great experience! You go with proof of address and you get 1 ton free every 6 months. You weigh your car going in and out. The people working there are super helpful and point you in the right direction and will carry stuff if you can't manage. There are also fortnightly on street collections for 'monstres' meaning large and bulky items. You call a number and put the stuff out the night before. By 9am it's gone!

The UK system seems to be in need of an overhaul!

This sounds like a great system.

@SoMuchForSummerLove

My ILs have these big bins in their street but they are constantly overflowing and the seagulls make an absolute mess of the place. I don't think it's a better system unless they provide enough bins for the number of residents, and empty them often enough.

I’m pretty sure ( and other posters have also said) that some areas/countries empty at least every other night. I agree that some nations, such as the Dutch, have a greater sense of communal responsibility. Maybe I should move to Holland. Off topic, on a visit to Amsterdam my friend and I boarded a tram by the wrong door. The driver called to us and we hustled up to the front saying Sorry! Sorry! The driver said ‘Good Morning Ladies! Come and sit up the front so I can get you to the right place. No charge today🙂!’ In London? Nah!

Given that most councils are now on fortnightly collection schedules and are pleading poverty at the best of times, pray tell where the hell the money would be coming from to fund daily or even weekly collections over the entire area?

There would be room for bins like these in many areas

A few months ago the local council moved from fortnightly collections to every three weeks, which is ridiculous. It’s only me and DH in our house and we recycle but the green bin is still full after two weeks.

Although the entire area is covered in potholes so deep you can practically see Australia so I don’t know where the saved money is going.

That French system would be brilliant. I have a small courtyard and am supposed to keep 3 hefty bins in it and drag them up 3 steps through a gate to be emptied.

Sorry, that was referencing @redcandlelight’s photos

I agree OP. It is so ugly to see streets full of bins. I'm in a city in Italy and my experience is very different to @geamhradh Our big, communal bins are in the street and are emptied almost daily. I much prefer it as I have a small balcony and I don't want it full of bins!! The bins in the town centre are now all underground so they don't smell.

I've always had wheely bins in both NL and France. In France it's a nightmare when the waste disposal employees are on strike. It ends up stinking sacks of refuse all over the city. In NL it depends on neighbourhood. The communal bins work ok in some areas, but in loads of places people just dump their trash next to the bins so it looks a mess and smells. They're not collected often enough for huge blocks of flats. Around Christmas, it needs to be twice a day, but they still only do it a couple of times a week.

Oh and we DO recycle! Outside my flat we have bins for: plastic, paper, food waste/organic waste, glass and textiles plus a general bin.

@Mytiredeyeshaveseenenough

Given that most councils are now on fortnightly collection schedules and are pleading poverty at the best of times, pray tell where the hell the money would be coming from to fund daily or even weekly collections over the entire area?

We probably wouldn’t need daily collections as, sadly, we don’t get much hot weather. If a road of say, 50 houses had two bins to be emptied/swapped over rather than 50 individual ones, there might be a way to make it work.

Those bins are why rat / vermin infestations are really common in some European countries, because they often don’t get cleared enough. It’s far, far better to have smaller bins per household because they faciliate more frequent collections

Underground bins look like a good solution. Have they been introduced anywhere in the uk? Scotland seem to be into communal bins; any in use there?