Forum Topic

Community Recycling Bins

How often are recycling bins (those situated in places where anyone can use them) supposed to be emptied?  I thought it should be every week or two but I am obviously wrong.  The bins outside Harnage House in Brentford have not been emptied for many weeks although, strange to relate, the excess rubbish which piles up on and around the bins seems to be cleared regularly.I took a photo of the bulging, smelly bins early in October and the image has not updated.  Are they trying to kill off the elderly residents of Harnage House and Green Rod Place?  The sight is unpleasant and the smell is even worse!Emails to the Council Department responsible for this remain completely ignored, of course!

Patricia Salt ● 3739d16 Comments

So there are several ideas here for how LBH can be helped to manage the community bins.  Will anything to improve the situation happen?  Managing does NOT mean sending in a contractor/white van man to clear away the excess around the bins occasionally and not informing residents and monitoring the bins to ensure they are being filled correctly and then emptied regularly.

Philippa Bond ● 3732d

So there are several ideas here for how LBH can be helped to manage the community bins.  Will anything happen?  Managing does NOT mean sending in a contractor to clear away the excess around the bins occasionally and not informing residents and monitoring the bins to ensure they are being filled correctly and then emptied regularly.

Philippa Bond ● 3732d

Or Brentford's very own BRAGhttp://bragonline.org.uk/

Philippa Bond ● 3735d

Brentford Free Church  7.30pm  See the calendar on this website.

Philippa Bond ● 3736d

You can only wonder what the bins are like at Fort Lampton. Is each individual hugging their own personal mixed bin under the desk?  They should have embraced this thoroughly there before rolling it out on the rest of the population.  It looks as though LBH need to get their own house or houses in order first before they antagonise the socially minded people who actually are recycling!

Philippa Bond ● 3736d

Sorry a blonde moment:  West London Waste Authority.http://westlondonwaste.gov.uk/about-us/waste-prevention/the following boroughs make up the WLWA:  Hounslow Hillingdon Richmond upon Thames Ealing  Brent and Harrow and each has a Councillor who attends the meetings.

Philippa Bond ● 3736d

Hurray!  It would also probably be useful if the Council would deliver or organise to be delivered some information to residents so that there is less likelihood that these community bins will be contaminated by residents.  If everybody is sure what exactly can be put in the bins instead of not remembering or not being really sure that would help.Perhaps you could ask whether the West London Waste Association would visit you to give a talk?  Or The Rubbish Diet?Do you have a residents association of any type?  Or just get a group of people together?Take a look at their website:http://westlondonwaste.gov.uk/take-action/work-with-us/

Philippa Bond ● 3736d

I am happy to relate that I have just received a phone call from Hounslow Council confirming that the bins in question have been emptied and cleaned and all rubbish in, on and around them has been removed.  I have also had it confirmed that these recycling bins should be emptied every week and, if contaminated, this should be cleared shortly afterwards.  This is obviously where the process broke down in the past so I'm hoping the message has now been rammed home and that they will keep on the ball in future.

Patricia Salt ● 3736d

We have all had recycling boxes for so long that we should know how to do it.  That we still don't - despite newcomers and moving house - is a pretty awful reflection on us as a country.

Philippa Bond ● 3736d

Too true and glad you brought it up. Even in areas where there is a high rate of recycling such as my street, there are a couple of my very near neighbours who are remiss on the recycling and who they are is obvious by the year by year lack of recycling on the doorstep (one does 0 recycling, the other paper only). I can 100% say that they have never been tackled re this by Hounslow Council.Strange though it may seem to those who have read my rather endless contributions to this subject, I feel that if a bin is to be introduced, it should be a recycling bin. This may, indeed, encourage recycling. Then leave the many of us who live in small households who only produce a very limited amount of general waste in any case to put a bag out each fortnight.

Anne England ● 3736d

Good to see Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall on Monday engaging with the residents who were not recycling or not recycling properly.  That is what is missing.  Instead of persecuting the residents who do/have reduced their waste and recycling for not wanting to have the enormous wheelie bins which will remain empty or mostly empty in the pursuit of the 50% recycling rate - it would be good if they sorted out the problem areas to raise the recycling rate.

Philippa Bond ● 3737d

"managed by the London Borough of Hounslow"How often are the bins supposed to be emptied?  Surely there is a contract?

Philippa Bond ● 3737d

I know of areas which have had no collection but  with Harnage I confused with Cressage

David Squire ● 3737d

I have been in touch with Hounslow and local elected officers for years on this subject. Harnage house should be the first and best collected in the town. Its right outside where a councillor lives. I know all bins should be emptied, but if you want brownie points? I live in Netley Rd and my five bins are a joke, yes there were emptied yesterday after five weeks. I watched the five bins full of paper, glass and cans which all were full of one weeks recycling ( the other four have gone in landfill) being tipped in to a refuse lorry as they were contaminated with house hold rubbish. The problems are, No weekly collections. The bins are years old with notices which are only in English which state no plastic but full of the stuff. The locks are gone so the frame can be lifted ans anything is dumped in them. A major issue is that no one checks them. When I first brought this to Matt Harmers attention a few years ago he had to get local residents to monitor the bins. When I got Mrs Cadburys attention a council officer said he would get a person out to check six weeks later. Hounslow pay a contractor to remove the recycling the council then get paid for the amount of recycling. With this not happing Hounslow is losing a lot of money plus still paying for the extra in landfill  costs. No wonder the leader of Hounslow council say our total weight of recycling has gone down as most of the community collections end up in landfill. Thank you for bring the subject up as I thought I was the only one banging my head against the wall. I stopped contacting Hounslow nearly a year ago as no one did any thing about it. Unless you involved an elected person.

David Squire ● 3738d

Also try www.fixmystreet.com    It is nice and public and you can check back to see when you reported the problem anonymously.  Everybody else can see too.  You can report anonymously if you want to.It is reported to the Council or appropriate body for you.The map to pinpoint the problem is also very easy to use.

Philippa Bond ● 3738d

I am wondering why, if the bins are for recycling, they are smelling quite so much. Is it because people are dumping all sorts there? On the other hand, unless all containers are rinsed thoroughly before putting them in the recycling bin, there will of course eventually be an unpleasant smell. Talking of rinsing the containers though, I very rarely give them more than the quickest of rinses these days since a friend told me that in Germany this is not considered the thing to do, reason being that the containers etc are blast-washed at the recycling plant and rinsing them at home first just uses more water/energy.

Anne England ● 3739d