Forum Topic

Garden Waste Sacks

This morning I received a letter (dated 23 February) from LB Hounslow. I have been racking my rapidly diminishing grey cells to think of any logical reason why the change in the colour of garden waste sacks is being introduced. I must be missing an important fact.Can anyone help me out?Last year I was provided with two spanking new green sacks and lovely yellow tags to attach to them. The green bags (and the tags) are still in perfect condition.The main part of the text in the letter from LBH reads as follows (I quote verbatim):"It has come to our attention, that you have been presenting green sacks of garden waste for collection. These are now obsolete and we will be no longer collecting Green sacks.I have arranged for a delivery of 2 brown sacks for the future collections of your garden waste. We do not need the sacks returned, you can either utilise them for your own use, or dispose of them in your general grey waste bin Once you have received your brown garden sacks, please do not present your green sacks. Brown sacks only please."

Jim Storrar ● 3090d11 Comments

David - I had already filled my green sacks before the brown ones arrived one by one. I'll put out the green sacks next week and see what happens. It's good to live on the edge!I see that the Chiswick Forum has posts on an entirely different set of problems with the arrangements for garden waste recycling:http://www.chiswickw4.com/?section=community&app=forum/default.asp

Jim Storrar ● 3083d

As I have also been issued with just one brown sack to replace two green, I shall be very interested to see if both, suitably tagged yet varying in colour ,containers are collected next Wednesday.Interestingly, though it is possible to request replacement of every other type of recycling container, by filling in a form, the same cannot be said for garden waste sacks.

David R Rowlands ● 3086d

I quake in my running shoes at saying this, as it is bound to be wrong, but the green garden bag with yellow tag attached was collected as normal on Tuesday.......

Sarah Felstead ● 3087d

Feeling jaded? One degree under? Losing the will to live? New garden waste bags should give you a lift.As promised, today I received from LB Hounslow a sparkly new (brown) bag for my garden waste. However two, not one, bags should have been delivered. I guess that another planet-destroying delivery will be required for the missing bag.No guidance has been given on tagging the bags. I wonder if we should use last year's yellow tags or if new tags will be issued. I am trying to get clarification from the recycling team at LBH.

Jim Storrar ● 3087d

In previous years the green garden sacks were made with a reinforced bottom.  The ones I bought last year did not so they have holes appearing from being dragged to the cart from our driveway.I did wonder at the expense of replacing recycling boxes for everyone rather than phasing them in as people request them but maybe there are pots of £'s available in the waste budget.Placing old garden sacks in the household waste instead of asking people for suggestions on how they can be better recycled and used would make sense.  If they are cleaned up they might make for great boot liners in the car?

Sarah Felstead ● 3089d

When signing up for this year's service on the Garden Waste website , the subscriber is required to indicate whether they have any existing sacks.A simple indication that green sacks are now obsolete and will be replaced would have made written communication unnecessary.I tried to email the officer who had informed me of the obsolescence. The email bounced back.ACCESS DENIED

David R Rowlands ● 3089d

Jim, do you really think you'd get any common sense from this council? I agree with you - but what do we know?

Vanessa Smith ● 3090d

" Presumably LBH have stocks of the "old" green bags and I wonder what will happen to them?  "...something about car boot sales I heard ... ;) x

Sarah Felstead ● 3090d

Thanks Vanessa. I had considered that possibility but I would have thought that a cheaper and less wasteful solution would have been to issue weatherproof adhesive stickers to households that have paid their fee for 2017-18. The sticker would go on the current yellow tags and be of a different colour. Like the current year's tags the address and postcode of the household would be written on the sticker with a permanent marker such as a Sharpie.A quick look on the internet shows that such stickers are widely available and can be bought in bulk for well under 50p each.The current cost for bulk orders of the garden waste bags of the size that we currently use seems to be more than £1 per unit when ordered by the thousands. No doubt LB Hounslow are in the position to negotiate a lower price.This suggests that the cost of replacing the bags may be roughly twice as much as the sticky alternative. An additional cost will be incurred by the delivery of new sacks. Delivering stickers would be cheaper and easier.Another alternative would be to issue plastic tags of a different colour but I have no idea of the cost of this option.However, when all is said and done, it seems quite unnecessary and undesirable for households to add their green bags to the non-recycled waste stream. Presumably LBH have stocks of the "old" green bags and I wonder what will happen to them?

Jim Storrar ● 3090d

More daftness..why not collect both?

Keith Iddon ● 3090d

I suspect because we now have to pay for this service the new coloured sacks are to distinguish between last year and this - to make sure that you've paid? In Richmond the garden wheelies get a different coloured sticker every year.

Vanessa Smith ● 3090d