to think reducing general waste collections to every 3 weeks is unrealistic?

[HazelMember]

The council has reduced general waste collections to once every 3 weeks instead of twice a month. The general waste wheelie bin is already half the size of a normal bin.

I already recycle as much as possible. Cardboard plastics food waste glass tins everything. I am genuinely trying to do the right thing environmentally. But even with all that the general waste still builds up especially with a family.

Three weeks feels like a long time to store rubbish. I keep seeing just recycle more as the answer but I am already doing that. There is not much left to recycle.

How are people actually managing this? Are you just producing less waste somehow or are your bins overflowing too?

AIBU to think this change does not reflect how households actually live?

This thread is really interesting. My household (2 adults and 3 children) doesn't produce very much general waste... our standard size wheely bin is less than 1/3 full when it's collected each fortnight.

I think this is because we recycle loads. The recycling bin is always full to the brim (usually squashed down!) and we also recycle soft plastics at the local supermarket collection point.

I'd happily reduce the size of our general waste bin (or the frequency of collections) in return for a bigger recycling bin (or more frequent recycling collections).

This thread is really interesting. My household (2 adults and 3 children) doesn't produce very much general waste... our standard size wheely bin is less than 1/3 full when it's collected each fortnight (and that includes nappies).

I think this is because we recycle loads. The recycling bin is always full to the brim (usually squashed down!) and we also recycle soft plastics at the local supermarket collection point.

I'd happily reduce the size of our general waste bin (or the frequency of collections) in return for a bigger recycling bin (or more frequent recycling collections).

Same here.

don't really use glass or plastic, except for toothpaste don't have condiments and sauces

@123teenagerfood what kind of things do you cook? I mostly cook from scratch, but I use tins of pulses and tomatoes regularly, coconut milk, jars of pickles, olives, chutneys etc. We use a lot of milk and yogurt in our diet as well.

Do you eat a very plain diet?

Our wheelie bin is 3/4 full and we recycle everything. Recycling bin is overflowing.
I can’t wait until we have soft plastic because I’m sick of saving it in house (it’s one use of the clothes recycling bags that I keep being sent.
We don’t have food waste collection yet.
But we have 3 indoor cats and cat litter etc is a pain.
We definitely couldn’t go every 3 weeks until I could compact my waste!
I don’t know what people who can’t drive do with their soft plastic, having to carry on bus would be a right pain!

Our collection is every 3 weeks, allowance is 3 black bags. We recycle most stuff so only have 1 black bag of general waste every 3 weeks. If you're recycling tins/glass/plastics/cardboard & paper/food waste/soft plastics - what are you putting in the general waste?

We couldnt manage once every 3 weeks and we recycle loads.
We are a family of 6.
If we were a single persin houselhold or just a couple or maybe 3 person household we could manage.
But until DC leave home we couldnt.
I also think its not very hygenic to have it hanging around for so long, in the summer will be liads of maghots/flies and it will stink.
Council tax is expensive snd rubbish collection is a badic service everyone uses and id be furious if it went to once every 3 weeks

We’re a family of four (including a baby but she uses reusable nappies and wipes) and could easily go three weeks before a general waste collection. As a PP said above it’s mostly non recyclable plastics that end up in our general waste bin.

How would this help reduce waste? Unless you’re putting toilet paper in the bin? 🤷🏻‍♀️

Nappies. So many nappies.

We moved to a different town twelve months ago. We have a general waste collection once every three weeks and the bin is smaller compared to once every two weeks and a full size bin

We recycle a hell of a lot more now as we’ve been forced to and we also have a food caddy here which we didn’t have before (no option) We put 2-3 bags in that a week and it’s emptied every Friday

I’m not sure how a family of four or five would cope with the smaller bin and a collection every three weeks.

Ah! Well, I can recommend reusables if you did want an alternative way to reduce their waste 😅 A bit easier than stopping them pooping altogether anyway 😂

What else is in your bin apart from cat litter? Surely you don't fill not full of litter in under three weeks?
There is very little in ours. We probably manage one black bin bag a fortnight. Adding cat litter to that, even if you change it every day wouldn't fill the bin. Maybe if we had multiple kids in nappies...I don't know what else would generate quite so much waste.

We have been on a 3 week cycle for years where I am. Week 1 general waste, week 2 plastics etc week 3 cardboard/paper. Food waste is collected every week in a much smaller caddy.

We have to do our own glass at a supermarket bin.

We manage fine with one bin every 3 weeks. It’s never full, often only halfway. Usually only one maybe two bags worth for a family of 3 (teen DC). I can’t think of much that we put in it actually! Loads more goes in the plastic/foil/metal/cans one, it’s always the fullest. It wasn’t even full after Christmas (I try to buy recyclable packaging and wrapping paper etc so not much extra goes to landfill waste).

I think if you have more than 2 kids in nappies or a bigger family you can ask for a second bin here.

Omg. That’s appalling. In my London borough, we have weekly waste and recycling collections. I have respect for anyone who manages like you are having to.

Currently our nonrecyclables are collected fortnightly but the nonrecyclables wheely bin is only ever 60% full so I wouldn't have much problem with a proposed reduction to every 3 weeks. We recycle more than 75% of our waste by volume and frankly we are quite slack and could reasonably up it to 80-85% if we put in a bit more effort. Each week we put out loads of recycling, including compostable food waste, and add a single smallish binbag to the wheely which is mostly thin plastic film from food packaging, bits of used kitchen roll, occasionally the shattered shards of a broken bowl and occasionally a jar of something that went mouldy in the fridge and I am too squeemish to do the responsible thing and decant the mould into the food waste, wash the jar and recycle it and instead throw the whole thing away. But seriously most stuff is recyclable.

I hope any LA reducing to 3-weekly has a really comprehensive programme for recycling absolutely everything that can be recycled though.

Exactly, are we really expected to be able to juggle everything these days?!

Now, as well as having multiple kids, a huge mortgage which requires both working stupid hours, school admin at every turn, we now need to find a way to cloth nappy our babies or fit another trip to the tip each week to dispose of household waste?!

All in the name of the environment my arse. The government don’t care about the environment, they care about cutting public services.

Where are our taxes going?!

For the past 6 years I've had at least 2, often 3, children in nappies at the same time. I'm just done with any kind of nappy tbh 😂 And washing.

And I hope you’ll also volunteer your 40% unused bin to larger local families who need more space? Because just because you are ok with it, doesn’t mean others will manage.

I don't know where you live but here it isn't going on building new schools, sports centres, community facilities, activities or clubs for young people, improving the high streets in towns etc. They've even done away with Christmas lights. And this is a very large council area when almost every other one in Scotland is managing these things. It's a dump. So I highly doubt they're spending money on bins either 😂

I had to pay for a larger bin and it's full up every fortnight. I use incontinence pants. People with kids in nappies also fill theirs up. But thanks for your consideration.

The recycling centre only accepts vehicle bookings. I've actually tried walking there and they turned me away with some hostility.

Exactly. Not everyone can make a general waste bin last 4 weeks or 6 weeks like someone claimed. Or was it 4 weeks with a family of 6! Or 3 weeks with a family of 5???

And as I said, the smell is unholy in the summer. Like fuck am I putting up with that for weeks on end in the summer. I pay enough council tax. Empty my fecking general waste bin!!!!!!

Thing is, like some others, it is often only half full by the end of the fortnight - occasionally only a third full.... because we do recycle a lot. But I still want it emptying fortnightly. They can feck off with any suggestions of 3-weekly or 4 weekly. I pay enough council tax - £2.5K a year - and get very little for it.

As has been said, all much reduced collections will do is result in people flytipping.

A recycling site not a million miles from me tried making people book their slot to take rubbish to the skips, and even tried making them pay for the privilege. Result? SHIT loads of crap flytipped all over the place. Fucking shitshow. They withdrew the idea after about 4-5 months LOL!!!! (And went back to the old way that worked fine!!!) Who knew?????//

Ours have been every 3 weeks for years.

We have 3 cats and 4 litters trays! We use wood litter and it expands when wet! We use 20litres every 2 weeks!
Indoor only as they are rescue and we live on a busy main road. Plus I don’t want them fouling other people’s gardens!
But that’s beside the point as they indoor only, we do have a catio.

Ours have been 3 weeks for the last 9 years. Recycle everything you can and you’ll find it works ok.

Why does the general waste smell? You should have food waste recycling? Our food waste is every two weeks and general waste every three.