Wheelie Bin News Roundup 30th September

Wheelie Bin News Roundup 30^th September

More and more councils are fining people for leaving their bins out all day or on the wrong day, and Gwynedd in Wales is the latest council to tell people that they face a £100 fine if they continue to do so.

The council said it’s to prevent bins from blocking pavements, and people who continually flout the rules will receive the fixed penalty notice.

The council say that the fines are a ‘last resort’ and added that there have been long-standing concerns about bins and recycling boxes being left out on the street, blocking pavements, and negatively impacting on the way streets look. A local councillor added that bins were a constant problem for parents with prams or disabled people who are often left to walk on the road.

Litter-crushing ‘smart bins’ have been installed in south London in a bid to tackle litter. Greenwich has installed 18 solar powered bins as part of a trial aimed at reducing litter and tackling the problem of overflowing bins.

The bins crush the litter that’s put into them, and they can hold an impressive 10 times the rubbish of a standard street bin. The high-tech bins are also fitted with a sensor which sends an email alert to the council when it’s almost full, so a crew can be dispatched to empty it.

The bins are being installed in pairs (one for general waste and one for recycling) in high-traffic areas.

A local councillor said that the borough is attempting to have the ‘cleanest streets in London’ and added that the smart bins would go a long way towards helping it to achieve that.

She added that overflowing bins can be an eyesore, and the problem is made worse when litter is blown about or animals get into the bins. The smart bins have a lid that’s operated by a foot pedal to prevent this problem.

Not only that, because the bins will increase the efficiency of litter collections, the council will be able to deploy crews on other street cleaning tasks. Fewer trips to empty the bins also means less carbon emissions from collection vehicles.

A growing black market for stolen wheelie bins has been revealed in the findings of a waste survey which found that people are so fed up of their waste piling up due to less frequent collections, they’re buying stolen bins.

People are turning to the internet or to thieves who are stealing bins to buy extra bins for their excess waste. Some people have been forced to do this after piled up bin bags attracted rats and started smelling really bad in the heat of the summer.

The survey was carried out by the waste management agency BusinessWaste.co.uk.

The survey found that thieves were stealing bins from homes where the owners were away and were selling them on for a far cheaper price than what most councils charge.

One survey respondent said that she has three children so they create a lot of waste. She said she bought a bin online and the bin men never said anything about it. Another respondent said they’d been offered a bin for £20 by some local kids and added that he’s seen people selling them on Facebook Marketplace for much cheaper prices than the council.

But a spokesman for BusinessWaste.co.uk said that the bins might seem like a bargain, but because they’ve usually been obtained by theft, it’s better to try and produce less waste in the first place. He added that recycling properly can reduce general waste and that just by recycling cardboard and plastics, you can reduce your rubbish by as much as 60%.

The survey also revealed that people said they would be willing to pay more council tax if there were improvements in rubbish collections. Cuts to council budgets have meant reductions in services for many people and they’re simply struggling to cope-especially those with large families.