AIBU to think councils should do extra waste collections at Xmas, not fewer?

[Pyew]

Because regardless of what people "should" be doing, there's always extra to pick up at this time, and going into denial about it creates problems that last for weeks rather than days.

Eg I live in a block of flats, with a communal bin store for three blocks. It was last emptied 3.5 weeks ago and now it's so disgusting with both overflowing recycling and regular bins that the bin lorry came and went today just leaving it in that state. We are all now going to have to pay the management company an extra fee to clear it, and I'll be storing trash and doing tip runs with my own waste until that happens.

Obviously the immediate problem has been caused by people just dumping stuff in there once the bins got full, but it probably wouldn't have happened if we'd had an extra pickup over Xmas - the rest of the year it's fine, but every Xmas it backs up. It's not even solely caused by my immediate neighbours - I've certainly witnessed people driving into the estate and offloading their trash into our stores, presumably because their own collection schedule isn't adequate at this time of year.

AIBU to think that although yes it would be lovely if we lived in a waste-free world where everyone merrily composted their tiny output, simply pretending there isn't a problem actually creates a much bigger problem that could be easily resolved by just one extra waste collection, once a year?

Ours do

normally we are allowed 3 black bags every 3 week. The collection after Christmas we are allowed 6 bags

This. I go out if my way to make sure we produce as little waste as possible even (especially) over Christmas. Why should I pay to subsidize those who don’t?

You are being a bit unreasonable. The blokes are entitled to some time off but then they still have to catch up their regular rounds when do they fit extra rounds in. Baring in mind they also do a lot of gritting too.

Why are you getting less bin collections? We have the exact same amount.
If collection day falls on a Bank Holiday here they simply move it to another day. It really does though as it's a Tuesday.

I don't agree that you should be getting more of in collections but you certainly shouldn't be getting less.

Some tips if it helps; you can compost a lot of food waste and also cardboard. You can do this on your kitchen window ledge or on a balcony. You can also have a bonfire to get rid of cardboard if you have any sort of garden.

I agree. rubbish piled up everywhere. Not possible to get a tip spot.

Do people really compost cardboard on their kitchen window ledges?

I mean, I don't even have a kitchen window ledge (my "kitchen" is an inside corner in an open plan apartment) , or a balcony, or any outdoor space at all, but even if I had a kitchen window ledge I can't imagine one big enough to compost cardboard on it. Maybe in Buckingham palace.

Pay more tax then to pay the bin men

This!

Driving to a tip, saving paper for kindling and home composting in the garden isn’t an option for plenty of people. OP is talking about their communal bins at their flat. Communal bins are a misery christmas and IME frequently rank and overflowing the rest of the time too.

I’m in Sydney. Bins are collected on Christmas Day as usual (and if it is your scheduled day for recycling which is every second week that is collected too). I was amazed the first year it happened, just normal now. I think the bin collectors get something like triple time and finish pretty early so I have never heard anyone moan about it.

So that’s not the council’s fault then. That’s on the selfish fuckers that can’t even flatten a cardboard box or the selfish driver who dumps his rubbish at a random block of flats rather than go to the dump.

A fairly standard business approach would be to reduce one’s waste as much as possible as the cost of having that waste removed is high.
So, in response to your question, YABU. Reduce your waste or pay a private company to remove the excess.

Why should someone who manages to keep my waste under control by not increasing my consumption one week a year have to subsidise others who can’t be arsed and therefore want extra collections?

The bin men where I live shifted their days which meant they were working on Saturday and Sunday. My bin was overflowing and I popped out with an extra two bin bags on Sunday and asked if they could please take them. They were brilliant, said of course, and off they went. Normally it's yellow shouty stickers on bin bags that don't fit in the bin!

They do an unthankful job. I'm so grateful. I wouldn't expect them to give up Christmas and New Year with their families to cram in extra collections of our crap.

Lol. I'm not going to scroll back now to quote it but I think my favourite response was from the poster talking about her bokash bin. Like, ok.

It wouldn’t be an extra circuit. It would be doubling up on a week’s/ fortnight’s/ 3 weeks work to collect every single bin an extra time.

Yes, a lot of people don't really trust/follow any political party now, and think that the only service they tend to "see" for their money is bin collection, so they'll go with that idea. Particularly those who have seen rats big as cats and suffered health issues.
OP, looking at the queues on the roads at the tip, it might well be safer and better for the environment to have extra collections!

No, not everyone creates extra waste over Christmas. And if you choose to do so (and it is a choice, despite your protestations), you can take responsibility for the waste you generate and trot off to the tip instead of expecting other people’s already massively-stretched council tax to subsidise your consumption habits.

Might not be the same, but part of ‘everyone’. The poster’s point was that not everyone generates more waste at Christmas.

We do though. I think it must be the butler and cook doing it.

Of course it’s that simple. I live on a managed estate and rubbish was collected from the bin store as it wasn’t a complete shit tip.
no doubt much easier to moan that it’s all so difficult…FFS

Exactly! Just when would these extra collections of the whole borough be fitted in?

I don’t have any thoughts on your bin collection proposal, but I want to commend you on the correct use of “fewer”. It has actually brought me joy today (shit day).

Thank you! And sorry to hear your day has been shit.

Where I live in Australia residents are entitled to 4 free hard rubbish collections per year (including for your Christmas tree!). Residents can also take waste (inc. Christmas trees) for free to our local waste/recycling centre. And our bins are collected either on the public holiday itself, or the following day.

Despite this, the amount of large cardboard packaging dumped on or after Christmas Day in the communal garden space I share is appalling. People are too lazy to rip it up and put it in their recycling bin, or arrange for FREE collection. Every bloody year for the 11 years I've been here.

I lived in London for years, and people here don't realise how good we have it.

@Pyew i think I might live in the same flats as you. We’ve been told today that it’s due to “operational difficulties”. 🙄 We are inundated with recycling in the flat.

Lots of people have an extra busy time at work at Christmas. It’s not as if it’s unforeseen.

We haven’t created any extra waste. Probably less as we were away for Christmas. But our bins haven’t been emptied for 3.5 weeks from a block of 62 flats. Even at normal non-Christmas times we’d be struggling as a block with a 3.5 week wait.