Forum Topic

Recycle bin collection issues

Hey guys - reaching out to all the people who accidentally put a wrong item into your segregated recycling bins... and then found that the recycling collections peps haven't collected your recycling and put a lovely sticker on to say they won't accept the box... Really? one item that got in there by mistake, despite the fact that they are collecting all of the said recycling items (yes even the one that got in there by mistake) ... WTF?

Lisa Deegan ● 2838d140 Comments

Are these the same as the stretchy ones that if you live in the Bath area you are advised to get from Coral Plastics?

Philippa Bond ● 2804d

https://www.hounslow.gov.uk/info/20002/recycling_and_rubbish/26/recycling_banks_and_organisations

Philippa Bond ● 2813d

I love shopkeepers who ask you if you need a bag and tried to make a point of thanking them when they did this before the law came into effect - as I invariably had one in my bag/pocket. It made getting used to having it out ready much easier!Unfortunately as with the Planning and Building Regulations the rules are better and better written in Scotland.

Philippa Bond ● 2820d

Re single use carrier bags - I wonder how many people using self-service tills actually pay for them.If I can be bothered I'll check out the people paying at self-service tills and see whether they use a greater no. of bags when compared to those paying at the tills - if they are, then it would suggest they don't give much of a damn (although could be paying for them, of course).Also, I don't understand why smaller shops are still allowed to give out bags which they do automatically with, from my observation, very few people bothering to refuse them.Yes, I have got better things to be doing with my life ...

Anne England ● 2822d

We all used to have "waste paper baskets" and not chuck everything in one bin. A shredder may have its own basket and it is easier to shred anything as and when (the minimal amount as it is better not to shorten fibres by shredding).We also sort last minute but some of it has already been separated.You can expect to have tweak what you do as you find packaging changes and your buying and eating habits change.  Step 1:  Use reusable bags and free up that space that all those carriers bounce out of.  It's amazing how good it feels to have freed up that space - and it gives you a chance to use that space for something else.

Philippa Bond ● 2823d

One of the problems in all this is that to get from the kitchen in a small terraced house , one has to pass through the living room and the hallway is very narrow.Too narrow for the boxes without bashing the doorframe and walls or spilling the contents.And these things have holes in so drip.At least with the bags that would be soft enough not to cause damage.Ands could be folded and put out of the way in a small space until next required.Clearly no-one with any sort of pragmatic understanding thought of this.So in the end more goes into the general rubbish simply to get it to the front door without a trail of mess or scuffed walls.This mentality that one size fits all blights some authorities and it shows, as they are always the tatty looking boroughs

Raymond Havelock ● 2823d

It is clear from many postings in the issue that many residents are unhappy with recycling bins in front gardens ( of terraced houses).Perhaps we should think back to the days before we had even one box and a doorstep collection.Some of us stored jars, bottles and card until we made trips to a recycling point.If we could accommodate these receptacles and materials indoors or in rear gardens then ,  why cant we do so now? I live in a terrace of seven houses and five of the households do not have the recycling boxes in our front gardens.I know better than to tell contributors how to store recycled materials but here are some of the ways we do so.A small container beneath the sink for squashed plastics and cans.A large bag on the wall of the understairs cupboard for card and paper.A redundant bin in the rear garden used to store plastics until collection day.The space outside the kitchen door , previously occupied by a general waste bin  for the three upturned recycling containers , only filled on the eve of recycling. All this involves a little effort but less so than constant trips to the front garden , to dispose of recycled materials into the various bins.

David R Rowlands ● 2823d

Yes, but they don't any more.  They disbanded them without telling them as far as I understand and put in place an app which I can't use on the smartphone that I don't have.  They don't want you to use www.fixmystreet.com in LBE - so I haven't bothered to report much at all.I've reported in the past through FMS which I have found easy to use and which you can use whatever borough you are in and it will report to the correct authority including knowing the difference between which roads are TfL and which Borough responsibility.  (You can find the street you want by the layout of streets on the map and drop a pin on it without having to remember the street name and house no/shop name and searching for it.  When I walk through the door at home I have plenty of other things calling for my attention!) and you can see what you have reported on the website and when.  I reported something on the LBE website the other day but it was difficult to do and I don't think it was successful - so  I'll have to endure that again - if I can be bothered.  That is why the situation gets worse.When the Streetwatchers flagged up one fly-tipped bag as flytipping and illegal it was a disincentive to others to add to it!  What they have now created/are now creating - if they don't investigate and engage is an incentive -which all Council Tax payers end up paying and which the council should care about.  HH have plenty of other things to do as part of their contract - mostly leaves at the moment if you look at their website! I can't imagine that they would have been told to expect an increase after such a wonderful new contract was put in place.The Council Officers need to get out more and see what is going on instead of just expecting HH to take all the flack.  As I understand it the Councillors are there to intervene on your behalf when you get nowhere with the Council Officers.  All contracts need supervising - self-supervising just isn't EVER good enough.  So whoever thought there was an easy way out - THINK AGAIN!

Philippa Bond ● 2823d

"In LBE local Streetwatchers used to mark up rogue black sacks with stickers marking it as fly-tipping with the fat that it is a fineable offence and how much the fine can be before reporting it to the Council"Yes but that is LBE.  In LBH the Councillors don't give a monkeys. They are not interested in trying to propagate a good system because they are denial that there is a bad system is in place. They simply go about how wonderful they are, how wonderful the Borough is and how they are meeting all targets. Fake news rules supreme. They learned a lot from Trump.

Steve Taylor ● 2823d

Sorry, the quotes should have included the word "magic" and I missed the "c" out of fact.  I wish you could edit posts on here!LBE used to also put CCTV film up on their website showing the perpetrators.

Philippa Bond ● 2823d

This is exactly why Hounslow Highways needs to investigate who has been fly-tipping.  They do investigate - maybe not enough.  They can use CCTV.It would be good to see more on the investigation of the origin of that fly-tipping.  In LBE local Streetwatchers used to mark up rogue black sacks with stickers marking it as fly-tipping with the fat that it is a fineable offence and how much the fine can be before reporting it to the Council for removal.  This stopped the magic "disappearance" of the fly-tipping which can give the appearance that this is a legitimate way of disposing of waste and an extra free collection for those not managing their waste properly and legally.

Philippa Bond ● 2824d

Steve, I completely agree but isn't this the problems of the Nanny State that the Tories complain about and have been attempting to redress?People just step over the mess and don't do anything about it - just as they did when they failed to safeguard THEIR OWN rubbish until it was collected and stepped over THEIR OWN rubbish spread all over the pavement pretending they couldn't see it and it was nothing to do with them.  Only it was always the same people that caused most of the mess. In the past residents would have been mortified that the contents of their bin was being viewed by all their neighbours and spoiling their neighbourhood.  Let alone offering to help neighbours - particularly new ones moving in with information on what and when the collection is.  (The real one - not the cynical one!)  It is always worth doing this early on before you become so frustrated, angry and depressed that it is difficult to broach the subject with them.  Of course landlords and letting agents should be taking responsibility for this - but many don't do enough.I've done the same with the number plates which have come off some lampposts.  Not outside my house and on the way to the tube station and shops for many many residents - but they just stayed there.  The road sweepers have come and gone and still they just stayed there - for months and months. I've had other pressing commitments - what is the matter with people?If we want a better environment - we need to be bothered!

Philippa Bond ● 2824d

“However, finding some community spirit and reporting an overflowing litter bin with a few clicks on their smartphones and helping to improve their neighbourhood can be very satisfying and they have the opportunity whilst travelling to do so.”It’s the same syndrome as ‘energy begets energy’.  If you are in a beautifully maintained garden or street you would respect it and try to keep it that way.  If you are in the dump that Hounslow Borough has become where the Leaders are not interested in cleaning it up or listening to taxpayers, people will have no respect for the environment. The rot has set in. Someone finds a place to fly-tip and within a week more people are adding to it.  I usually wait a week until I report fly-tipping jut to see if anyone else will report it. They usually don’t and it is incredible that once reported it is cleared within hours but people just don’t care. The road in Osterley (where the Conservative Club is located) has had fly-tipped household waste in broken bags for about a month and the pile gets bigger. I know that if I report it, it will be cleared within hours but I have waited to see if just one of the thousands who must pass it every day could be bothered to report it. I don’t live anywhere near it but I pass by. Nobody who lives there seems to care!  Earlier this year there were two abandoned cars, parked very  dangerously and partly obstructing traffic. I watched as everyone swerved past. After two weeks I reported them and the Council removed them within a couple of days. It took me all of 5 minutes to stop my car, take some photos and report the issue. I just couldn’t believe that not a single other person (there must be hundreds living in that street and in the nearby Closes) could be bothered to report it.       

Steve Taylor ● 2824d

Street Litter Bins emptying as I understand it is the job of the contractor Hounslow Highways.http://www.hounslowhighways.org/However it amazes me that people when there is an overflowing bin still don't squash those pesky coffee cups but prefer to just balance them on top of a litter bin.  Our on-the-go eating and drinking habit creates more litter.  Many of these people then get on a train or tube and sit or stand fiddling with their mobile phones.  We can't expect these commuters to take their rubbish home as we were taught as children.  However, finding some community spirit and reporting an overflowing litter bin with a few clicks on their smartphones and helping to improve their neighbourhood can be very satisfying and they have the opportunity whilst travelling to do so. They should try it!

Philippa Bond ● 2824d

I and I'm sure many others reported these particular overflowing waste bins - I used Fix My Street.  I am pretty sure Cllr Hearn also complained, result now the bins are emptied immediately they become full so we have much tidier streets.  'They' - Lampton 360? must be emptying these daily The bins are outside shops and by bus stops and highly used, so well done.

Jennifer Selig ● 2824d

Nope!

Robin Dickers ● 2825d

I agree that landlords and letting agents aren't doing their jobs in making sure that tenants have the information and equipment needed.It's a bit of a Catch 22 because when I complained to new neighbouring tenants about them not using the bins properly and trashing the street I was asked whether I was from the Council. If you complain to the Council without telling them first then you are squealing. They are just playing one person off against another.  That's why I think Residents Associations where neighbours can help each other to solve any problems are useful. LBE used Keep Britain Tidy to visit door to door after the new system was rolled out - why this isn't part of a contract - who knows.  Residents like this are the ones that need visiting by a Council Recycling/Waste Minimisation Officer.

Philippa Bond ● 2825d

Did they have a supervisor working the route with them?

Philippa Bond ● 2825d

The recycling rate within Chiswick W4 is pretty good compared with the rest of the Borough - not saying it cannot be improved, especially I suspect amongst flat dwellers and people renting where idle landlords and uncaring Letting Agents have not issued comprehensive instructions.    A big blast aimed at ALL Letting Agents to remedy this problem is essential.  It should be made law that all tenants are fully aware of the Council's recycling and waste requirements and forced to comply.The Council, Lampton 360 I presume, has to do their bit actually looking at it road by road and then by providing suitable containers - clearly one size does NOT fit all.  Our pretty tiny gardens and tree lined streets are paying the penalty of unusable, unwanted, bulky vast plastic containers just dumped & bags of rubbish fly-tipped all over the place.    It would be good if our W4 Councillors could come face to face with the ignorant householder but it still requires Lampton 360 to enable the changes required.  Our local W4 Councillors have more than enough to do tying to make an impression on the people running Hounslow Labour Council/Lampton 360.  In the Riverside Ward W4 many households do recycle but the fly tipping round here seems to have got worse although the area round the waste bins at Grove Park shops and at bus stops in Spencer Rd have greatly improved - overflowing bins are now being cleared away. 

Jennifer Selig ● 2825d

Guy, The recycling rate within Chiswick W4 is pretty good compared with the rest of the Borough - not saying it cannot be improved, especially I suspect amongst flat dwellers and people renting where idle landlords and uncaring Letting Agents have not issued comprehensive instructions.    A big blast aimed at ALL Letting Agents to remedy this problem is essential.  It should be made law that all tenants are fully aware of the Council's recycling and waste requirements and forced to comply.The Council, Lampton 360 I presume, has to do their bit actually looking at it road by road and then by providing suitable containers - clearly one size does NOT fit all.  Our pretty tiny gardens and tree lined streets are paying the penalty of unusable, unwanted, bulky vast plastic containers just dumped & bags of rubbish fly-tipped all over the place.    It would be good if our W4 Councillors could come face to face with the ignorant householder but it still requires Lampton 360 to enable the changes required.  Our local W4 Councillors have more than enough to do tying to make an impression on the people running Hounslow Labour Council/Lampton 360.

Jennifer Selig ● 2825d

Two house's stickered today & a noisy row with the collectors from another. Street littered with rubbish after they went.What a success this has all been.Will the peasants never learn from their masters at LBH.

Robin Dickers ● 2825d

Your Conservative Cllrs have continued to ask for up to date fly-tipping statistics at the Borough Council and Area Forum meetings. Currently we are being told by Officers and the Lead Member that there has been a small but "statistically insignificant" increase in fly-tipping on private land but not much change in the fly-tipping on areas that LBH has direct responsibilty for. We are being asked to wait until the refurbished depot comes on stream before drawing any conclusions. For what it is worth I think that fly-tipping is up in my ward but that it is being targetted and cleared a way more quickly. The jury is stilll out. Many people still do not know what they are supposed to do with their waste and recycling. In my judgement however these people are very much in the minority.Use this link to repoirt fly tippingwww.hounslow.gov.uk/info/20114/street_problems/1228/report_dumped_rubbish

Cllr Sam Hearn ● 2826d

"houses may also be identified by the existence of recycling boxes still stacked as they were on the day of delivery."Indeed there are scores of houses where the boxes aren't used. Councillors should be knocking on doors to ask residents if they are going to use them or not and if not, have them collected for recycling instead of leaving them lying around.

Steve Taylor ● 2826d

Even better, knock on the doors of those houses where there is no evidence of recycling of any kind and never has been. This would best be done on collection day - houses may also be identified by the existence of recycling boxes still stacked as they were on the day of delivery.Also, there are a number of houses in the area which have a collection of food boxes etc - these are obviously not used as there are more than required (or used) and are generally scattered about the place and do nothing for the overall appearance of the streets. I once asked whether people could dump boxes surplus to requirements in a park on a given date for collection but the reply from the Council was that this would encourage fly-tipping. Fair enough but the Council also needs to take responsibility for having created a lot of this plastic overload.

Anne England ● 2826d

This is a good offer Guy. May be need to go further - walk around a few streets (may be get some volunteers involved, Philippa may be interested(?)), knock on some doors where you see uncollected boxes (one can easily see those - e.g. in Ealing Rd, Braemar Rd and others) and help those residents sort their recycle?

Alex Shpinkov ● 2826d

"Hounslow Council have allowed this to get totally out of control"Unfortunately yes. That's what happens when council ignores common sense and elects to implement and force rules that seem appropriate in the minds of bureaucrats.

Alex Shpinkov ● 2826d

Noted loads more bags of household waste fly-tipped this evening. Sunday evening is fly tippers delight. Hounslow Council have allowed this to get totally out of control

Steve Taylor ● 2827d

Another system used years ago when we only had green boxes was to have dividers in them.  Then you could just separate as you would if you had dividers in a drawer of your chest of drawers.  Later the prevalence of carrier bags meant that residents separated some items into those.  Now thankfully we have fewer plastic carrier bags.  They no longer decorate the trees in the way that they did.I put my recycling in a reusable shopping bag on the back of a door and put it into the collecting box just before collection. If I miss a fortnightly collection then I am likely to go to the roadside recycling banks to reduce at least part of it.  Why have an enormous mostly empty wheelie bin spoiling your garden?

Philippa Bond ● 2827d

It is definitely worth being part of a Residents Association.  There is strength in numbers and you can also help each other to improve your situation.

Philippa Bond ● 2827d

So in a nutshell both Labour run councils are a disaster and a disgrace and some parts of affluent Hounslow which have massive houses and huge grassy verges and pavements, haven't had wheelie bins imposed up in them!!  No doubt the wealthy community objected due to the negative curbside appearance effect!

Steve Taylor ● 2827d

Enfield Walk and Enfield Road have lost much of their charm as they appear littered with boxes in such small gardens. Avenue Road and Whitestile Road look like the local tip on collection days and the very next day torn plastic bags appear outside the shops and fly tipping is a nightmare!  Just wished Hounslow council had consulted residents as it is very apparent that 'one size doesn't suit all'. Common sense should have prevailed!

Mari Austin ● 2828d

Enfield Walk and Enfield Road have lost much of their charm as they appear littered with boxes in such small gardens. Avenue Road and Whitestile Road look like the local tip on collection days and the very next day torn plastic bags appear outside the shops and fly tipping is a nightmare!  Just wish Hounslow council had consulted residents as it is very apparent that 'one size doesn't suit all'. Common sense should have prevailed!

Mari Austin ● 2828d

Now that would be something that Ed Mayne could usefully do for the community that might leave a good lasting legacy!

Philippa Bond ● 2828d

You are so wrong about LBE's system.  Our streets of small terraces have been wrecked by standard sized wheelie bins plonked into front gardens just because google maps showed a big enough area - causing a fire hazard and security issue and readily accessible to abuse by any passers by.  Both have to be hauled out in order to get the correct one out for collection.  They are supposed to be returned to the property after emptying but many aren't.  They are supposed to be kept on the property but can stand outside all week long attracting flytipping.  Estate agents move them a long way away from a building before they take a photo.  They have ruined the street scene. And if the resident does not use the food waste bin in the summer they stink because they are emptied fortnightly and are so close to you as you walk past in the street.  For a 5* recycling and waste service you would need to pay a great deal more!Good to see that the Government is calling for a consultation on taxing single use single use plastics.  Some of these are already banned in other countries.  The UK (and in particular England) is very slow on all of this.

Philippa Bond ● 2828d

It is more than one problem - and they will blame each other just as the next builder always lags off the last one.  The squeezing of Council resources does have a lot to do with it.Buildings are being sold off that would otherwise be used by the community.  Metropolitan Open Land is being taken from the community, parks are under threat - see how the Friends of Parks are being treated.  Turn around and you will find it all sold off - it is like the enclosure of common land all over again.Compare the remuneration that Council Officers get with other Councils.Some Councils are Councillor run and some are Officer run.  If you don't feel that your Councillors work for you/represent you with the Council then vote for someone that you believe will.  How many people complain about recycling and waste (because they can't really be bothered to involve themselves) but also can't be bothered to vote either?  I would far rather separate out the recyclable bit of my waste so that the Council has more money to spend on their activities that I can't do - like provide mental health care services, elderly services, etc and so much more.  The Hogarth Youth Club is being forced to close because of lack of funds allocated to it - when it keeps youngsters involved and learning and occupied so that they aren't on the streets.  The Council services extend a long long way beyond recycling and waste - and unless you use it properly you are not getting your money's worth.

Philippa Bond ● 2828d

Ed is standing down at the next election in May. I'm doing it as a ward councillor (as would any of my colleagues if asked) - perhaps one of the 9 in Chiswick can help your end Jennifer

Guy Lambert ● 2828d

I think Ed Mayne has stood now or maybe he hasn't quite left yet ...

Anne England ● 2828d

Well done Cllr - Lamton 360 have great need of fellows like you to have face to face meetings with those not recycling.  What efforts has your Council made to identify these households?  It's not just Brentford where these unenlightend people live either, it is throughout the Borough of Hounslow.  Get Deputy Leader Cllr Amrit Mann or is it now Lead Cllr Ed Mayne on the case to help.  This project should be a priority task.

Jennifer Selig ● 2828d

I am sure the government feels that paying Council senior officers, directors and chief executives double what MPs get and much more than cabinet secretaries and ministers get, the council should be able to do its job. They are awarded enough from central government. Incompetence is the problem.

Steve Taylor ● 2828d

I repeat my offer to help anyone who has problems with recycling - I have helped one resident so far, but if people follow this advice they shouldn't go far wrong.We cannot collect any plastic that is in a bag or sack, or - Polystyrene - Plastic carrier bags - Plastic wrapping and packaging (for example crisp   packets, plastic bread bags, plastic nappy packaging and   any other plastic wrapping) - Flower potshttps://www.hounslow.gov.uk/info/20128/household_recycling_and_waste_collections/1597/plastic_recycling_in_your_red_box

Guy Lambert ● 2828d

Go to Chiswick Farmers market every Sunday and buy Hook & Son's raw, organic, (unpasturised) cows' milk in 500ml screw top, glass bottles (2 a week is fine for me) and return the bottles the next Sunday.  Their farm is in Hailsham, East Sussex, tel 01323 449494  www.hookandson.co.uk  I believe they visit other Farmer's markets.  Their organic milk is raw and has not been heat treated so some people may not find it suitable for them.  I seem to thrive on it as do many others pbviously, if in doubt check with your GP or even the local pharmacist.

Jennifer Selig ● 2828d

You really have highlighted a problem Lisa. I haven't seen the Brentford forum so passionate about an issue for some time now.  As the residents of Hounslow are doing most of the work for the recycling teams now ( as opposed to Ealing residents who dump all recyclables into same bin) do we get a reduction in our council tax or is the money saved through our endeavours put to good use in another way that will benefit the community? I am grateful that there are so many well informed individuals on the forum as I have learnt a great deal. : )

Mari Austin ● 2828d

Anyway it is ALL services that are bei(And has nobody tried to order a new net for their recycling bin?)

Philippa Bond ● 2828d

It's also lack of governmment leadership.How do you suggest that Councils with depleted staff try to inform, persuade and help residents with the changing requirements (with 25 year contracts it's not exactly that often) when they refuse to see a bigger picture?  It is a shared world and there are finite resources.

Philippa Bond ● 2828d

That is the issue. Some are blaming government for cuts which has caused the incompetence of Hounslow Council. I blame Hounslow for wasting tax payers money.

Steve Taylor ● 2828d

Let's get back to the issue we discuss in this thread. Not just general complaints about other issues. And the point is that it's the council's fault that the waste collection and recycling has become such a mess. And an expensive mess, too.

Alex Shpinkov ● 2828d

I don't believe you can blame the government for underfunding when Council are incompetent. There is plenty of money but these clowns just squander it. Look at their approved redundancy payments for the dead wood. The private sector couldn't afford it so why should taxpayers. Normal redundancy approved by government is  1 weeks pay for every years service with maximum 12 weeks with max £325 per week. Go figure. Director of failed recycling scheme gets payout of £302,000 whereas in private sector he would receive £1625.  And how many directors of environment and assistant directors have been made 'redundant' in the last 10 years?  You couldn't make it up.

Steve Taylor ● 2828d

https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/blog/2016/07/taking-control-our-social-care-system

Philippa Bond ● 2829d

There are faults everywhere but great reductions in Government funding cause cuts to services.  And the deficit that we were supposedly trying to reduce which was why we needed to tighten our belts - well that's bigger than it was and Universal Credit is plunging everyone using it into debt.  Social care is in crisis - all over the UK.  The whole world is telling the Government it isn't working but they just don't care. 

Philippa Bond ● 2829d

It sounds like a poor excuse. I'm not convinced our council uses the available funds efficiently. And there are many examples of it on this forum. So no point in blaming government - the council needs to put its own house in order.

Alex Shpinkov ● 2829d

You can buy a can crusher to crush cans (make sure it will crush steel as well as aluminium) for a small sum to reduce volume.  In an office we put one on the wall and put a bin underneath so that everybody crushed their own aluminium drinks cans. (Funny how so many people suddenly became super strong and squeezed them by hand.) Otherwise you can do what I do and stand on them (wearing stoutish shoes - not flip-flops).  Once rinsed place the lid inside the can and squash.  Aluminium cans are very light and don't roll around when flattened. Do you remember how the ring-pull on aluminum drinks cans used to come off completely and how they have now been redesigned to stay on and are called tabs?  Packaging keeps on changing.

Philippa Bond ● 2829d

Isleworth still has a  returnable glass bottle door step milk delivery, Tue, Thur, Sat our area, from Mick the milk (Milk & More, Hanworth). Delivers 3.30am in the morning, sure he delivers other areas other days & is very, very reliable.We also have a Coalman who does a round (not to me),seems we’re stuck in the past here, good though!!

Robin Dickers ● 2829d

"Having to hang onto plastic milk bottles for two weeks isn't as easy as returning empty glass ones to the doorstep each day."Agreed - but here is a small tip. Pour a couple of teaspoons of hot water into you empty plastic milk bottles. They then become more malleable and easier to compact - taking up much less space in your recycling bin.

Cllr Sam Hearn ● 2829d

The Government has cut funding to the Councils and the Councils have to make savings to find more funds for other important services eg elderly care.  Why do you think that so many Councils have now outsourced the recycling and waste collection?  Isn't it obvious that they were promised great savings by the big shiny shoed slick suited silver tongued salesmen from the big waste companies. Whether or not they negotiated a good contract or not is something else.

Philippa Bond ● 2829d

Yes, it worked well but packaging keeps changing. Now it is very likely that the bulkiest recycling people have is the oversized cardboard boxes that internet companies use.  Global companies try and avoid taxes and there are packaging regulations and taxes - so give feedback on packaging - show that it is a concern! It depends on each household how much and what waste they make.Having to hang onto plastic milk bottles for two weeks isn't as easy as returning empty glass ones to the doorstep each day.  It is a shame that the Milkman and his round and social interaction has been sacrificed for a product that has turned into a loss leader for the supermarkets.After an outcry by not enough people about too much rigid plastic packaging and a Minister telling us to leave our packaging at the till rigid plastic packaging has been reduced.  New packaging with rigid tubs and easy to peel off lids is replacing much of it as sadly are pouches which are currently unrecyclable but more manageable.  Taxes and markets change.  Other Councils do arrange tours of waste transfer stations, anaerobic digestion plants, energy from waste plants and materials recovery facilities etc.  LBH doesn't yet have all its ducks in a row with its waste and recycling.  I still think that the small terraces should be using a different system and that the Council was monumentally crazy to be so inflexible and blindly and insensitively dictatorial when if they'd read the recommendations they'd know that one size does not fit all - and hopefully they will adjust this when their building is built.  If there is money to be made from waste and recycling surely it is better for the Council to gain the benefit to offset against the costs rather than just handing everything over to a Contractor on a plate?  However as with all investments in a market prices go up and down.  There has also been a reduction in waste arisings as many people buy less, buy differently and waste less.

Philippa Bond ● 2829d

The government didn't instruct Hounslow Council to force residents to use wheelie bins and  4 bulky recycle bins to clutter the streets and small front gardens. Hounslow decided of its own volition and without any consultation to implement this stupid idea which clearly isn't acceptable to most residents.

Steve Taylor ● 2829d

I'd rather be specific and not blame Government for the failures of the council. The council controls most local issues and should be made accountable.

Alex Shpinkov ● 2829d

The Government controls most things - not the Council.

Philippa Bond ● 2829d

You make it sound as though no-one has ever recycled.We've all been doing it for years.And it worked pretty well.It's been made over complicated, time consuming and pernickety. To many bulky containers take up very limited space where bicycles could be kept. Impossible to get into most homes here so trying to force people to cycle instead is not really feasible. Especially if a bicycle is adapted from maximum versatility i.e. baskets, panniers etc and covered as damp weather does for most bikes.It's the inflexibility of the system deployed that is impeding the recycling. And it is massively inefficient.And what goes on at a waste Transfer station?  Well all I can suggest is a few advocates of recycling ought to go unannounced and watch for an hour or two.You'll soon know why the security is higher than at Heathrow!Maybe all waste transfer stations should have a public viewing gallery.Makes one wonder why bother at all.

Raymond Havelock ● 2829d

"it is the Council's place to ask for the waste to be delivered up to them however they choose - however stupid the system is - if we want to use their system."That's where I do have a problem. The council is paid through our taxes. We elect councillors. Surely we should have a say in what system they implement for waste collection.

Alex Shpinkov ● 2829d

Alex  I know that I write the overlengthy posts.  I don't understand what you are trying to say but whatever we think about it - it is the Council's place to ask for the waste to be delivered up to them however they choose - however stupid the system is - if we want to use their system.  The contractors will have "sold" this system to them.  You don't have to use their system but you do have to dispose of your waste legally.  However making the best use of what the Council offers as a part of your Council Tax is the best value for money for you.

Philippa Bond ● 2830d

The Streetwatchers in Acton used to mark the flytipped bags with Streetwatchers stickers making it very clear that they were flytipped bags and that flytipping is a prosecutable offence, and reported back to the Council.  It seemed to help people to be more aware of the fact that other people noticed and weren't happy with the situation.Now we have to use the free downloadable LBE app "Ealing 24/7" or register and report on My Account page of www.ealing.gov.uk  Quite honestly I preferred www.fixmystreet.com but you can get a slightly brusque email in return - the other systems apparently go straight to the contractors rather than to Customer Services (which seem to have suffered from the cuts).LBE have fined quite a few flytippers this year.  This was just the start.https://www.ealing.gov.uk/news/article/1606/ealing_council_hands_out_4000_fines_for_fly-tippingIt is countrywide - we can't just keep on chucking so much stuff out - we have to rethink rubbish.

Philippa Bond ● 2830d

Couldn't agree more with you both.  In H&F they made recycling mandatory in some areas.  Unfortunately politics tends to raise its ugly head - one party playing off the other or others.  I wish people would see it for what it was.What happened was that they put some extra help into those areas - making sure that people had the right containers and information.  As a result they had a lot of comments.  Interestingly many of them were that it really wasn't as difficult as they had imagined...  Sometimes it just needs a bit of organisation and a bit of encouragement.

Philippa Bond ● 2830d

I'm afraid the fly tipping, now called regular tipping!,will simply continue. For example, the last year and a half of 2 weekly collections, just over the border in Northfields/South Ealing, has shown constant tipping. Flats/HMO/even businesses daily tip on the the main roads. As I have told Ealing council several times.... you don't need to wait for reports!....just organise a regular early morning van to clean/investigate.

Nick Jenkins ● 2830d

Why do people keep voting for lying politicians? Can't they see that they will do anything just to keep themselvess in power?Why do people vote for a party that wants to privatise everything so that families go bankrupt trying to care for their elderly?There are lots of whys in life.Many people get a large number of free texts on a mobile phone.  If you want to make life easier for yourself and others it often helps to contribute a little something.

Philippa Bond ● 2830d

" It makes no sense (and is somewhat annoying) that somebody who is trying to do the right thing but who puts an 'incorrect' item into a box should get a sticker and yet serial non-recylcers get away with it year after year right under the nose of others who strive to do the right thing."Totally agree. And this morning I noted many more fly tipped black bags.  I am a serial fly tip reporter and have to say that HH are extremely efficient at clearing fly tipped items but I too wish they would open the fly tipped black bags to ascertain who the scumbags are who fill their wheelies with recyclables and then dump general waste in the street in black bags.

Steve Taylor ● 2830d

If only everybody was bothered. I have three houses within the immediate vicinity of my house, none of which appear to recycle. At two of these houses the recycling boxes have remained one inside the other since delivery and at the other there is no sign of them. There has never been a waste food box in sight so go figure.Some recycling may be done at public centres but I rather doubt it. On top of this, two of the wheelie bins allocated to these people are left permanently on the pavement which is against Council guidance and also present an eyesore/trip hazard. It is a pity that the waste operatives do not have time to look inside the bags placed in these and other such bins to see whether there is recyclable material in them and, if finding any, to slap a 'contaminated' sticker on them. It makes no sense (and is somewhat annoying) that somebody who is trying to do the right thing but who puts an 'incorrect' item into a box should get a sticker and yet serial non-recylcers get away with it year after year right under the nose of others who strive to do the right thing.

Anne England ● 2830d

Well... They failed to collect my glass recycle today. It did not contain any unauthorised items and they left no sticker so perhaps they just missed it. Can happen to anyone of course... but somehow it makes me think of the allegations by someone here with plenty of time to write numerous lengthy posts on the subject saying that some people act like kids and need to grow up...

Alex Shpinkov ● 2830d

If you report a recycling area full can you claim for the cost of the call? Remember MP's claim so why should we be expected to prop up a scheme that continually fails?

Nicholas Beard ● 2830d

Here's where there are apparently some more places to recycle:https://www.hounslow.gov.uk/info/20002/recycling_and_rubbish/26/recycling_banks_and_organisationsIs it up to date?  Don't to forget to report any bank that is full.  It's easy if there is a number you can text a message to.

Philippa Bond ● 2831d

Oh I agree - the wheelie bins are much too high for the small gardens.  In fact unless you have nappies then you should have more recycling than residual waste - and could probably share an ordinary sized dustbin. I'm sure that there should be a solution but to find it you need someone to talk to to agree it - and engaging with its residents does not seem to be something that Hounslow is very good at.  Sharing boxes should work  but the trouble is that packaging is changing - very little glass nowadays.  Where are your nearest supermarket or roadside recycling banks?  These can help if you suddenly become overloaded - especially if you are going by car to buy from a supermarket.  Also squashing those plastic water bottles (we too think they are unnecessary) and also squashing plastic milk bottles makes a lot more space.

Philippa Bond ● 2831d

Wrong.  Unfortunately there are many who just can't/won't/don't do change.  Yet packaging and recycling facilities are changing all the time and so are the markets and market prices for recyclate.  Councils don't change the system often because it is difficult to do so and since the Government has reduced Council funding they will have also cut staff. The opportunity comes with a change in contract.  They don't have the funds to keep on educating a changing population - but there is plenty of info out there.  We need to take responsibility for our recycling and waste.Landfill tax has been set to go up year after year to deter its use. EfW has just been criticised again in a report as causing poor air quality.  Lakeside EfW (Colnbrook) is expected to be demolished if the Heathrow 3rd Runway goes ahead. Things change...The collection chaps don't have the time to engage with residents.  They are trying to improve the quality of the recycling as the recycling companies are all calling for less contamination. It is time that Government was stricter in making sure that packaging is designed to be recycled - there have been changes in that you will see that there is a lot less packaging that is made of mixed material - but not enough. There used to be a lot more rigid plastic inluding that awful globe for a cauliflower.  Bin bags were full of unsquashable rigid plastic containers of all shapes and sizes.  There is sadly more unrecyclable plastic eg pouches and thin film lids but those are more manageable and reduce the volume of your waste. It does seem that it might have been better to have just left whatever is not recycled in the kerbside collection behind in the box but without the stickers who is going to realise what the problem is?  The information has been given out with the bins, I'm sure it has also been in Hounslow Matters several times, and it is also available on the website to check.I've just searched for Hounslow Matters and Page 9 of the June 2017 edition when downloaded and printed makes a good poster to go on the fridge showing what you can put in each box.  I did this for university students when they left home and laminated the copy and blutacked it to their fridge.https://www.hounslow.gov.ukBe bothered - it's a shared planet! 

Philippa Bond ● 2831d

Pointed out to me by an irate neighbour."if they ned to go round wasting time checking boxes and issuing stickers then clearly the system is not working.So we both put it to the collection chaps early this morning.  " We are under strict orders not to engage with residents."  And yes, they are way short on their expected payloads, Too slow on collections and sorting and it does not work well in some areas."

Raymond Havelock ● 2831d

Reycycling lorry here today.  This week all the containers have been neatly stacked and returned.  Someone must have "had a word" so well done to the crews.  That does at least help the situation and keeps the estate looking tidy.

Jennifer Selig ● 2831d

"IMO the Council should have spent more time consulting with residents before issuing all these containers and bins."Quite right but this Council doesn't consult with anyone except their inner circle. Even though residents complained to Cllr Lambert he was ordered to "lay off during the summer when the new system was bedding in"So instead of acting on behalf of the community, Councillors backed off. Summer has come and gone but the Borough still looks like a 3rd world tip with everyone too scared to take the lead and stand up to those who dreamed up this disaster.And more black bags of household waste fly-tipped this morning. And more recycling bins strewn all over the place! 

Steve Taylor ● 2831d

Philippa "--- could have bin houses redesigned to suit a recycling and waste collection rather than just a waste collection."    Not strictly true - to demolish and rebuild these small covered areas would cost a fortune and who would pay?  The existing bin areas are workable but not with so many large rigid monstrosities and they are too low to accommodate wheelie bins.  With agreement, we have retained one lidded dustbin per home for the black bag refuse.  Individually most residents have been able to return a number of the recycling  boxes to the Council and share boxes with other neighbours.      IMO the Council should have spent more time consulting with residents before issuing all these containers and bins.

Jennifer Selig ● 2831d

I don't agree.  Ealing's system is not brilliant either.  If you look you see all sorts of rubbish stuck in LBE's recycling bins.  A lot of recycling must be  unrecyclable. They don't encourage recycling and are a blight on the small streets and small houses.  Only they didn't get the rebellion they deserved and some of deemed unsuitable for wheelie bins still use a green box and a black sack (although we still safeguard our black sack in a small metal bin).  It was a disaster of a roll-out - left to the contractor with many people without bins and many, many, people requesting smaller bins which although we could see outside some houses we were being told by the Council did not exist. There isn't enough room to turn the bins in the gardens of these small houses, the wrong one is always on the inside, they are difficult to manoeuvre  and they are a fire hazard. Estate Agents move them out and into the street when they take photos.They suit big houses who can hide them and landlords who had to pay for them before for tenants in unlicensed HMOs.  How many Councillors had vested interests?  And all because nobody from the Council would engage with those who did and probably still do no recycling.We ought to be trying to REDUCE the amount of waste that we make.Jennifer's problem seems to be the same that the small houses have - no room - or not the right kind of room -although it is possible that wherever it is that she lives could have bin houses redesigned to suit a recycling and waste collection rather than just a waste collection.  There are other estates where bin stores have been very neatly planned and built in but the system no longer works with them.The LBH system is not working at its best yet as I would hope that they will in future add recycling for flats. With reduced government funding it is difficult to keep on informing people on any changes but then people should be taking responsibility for the waste that they make - or trying to...  The contractor of course will want to choose a system that suits them!I remember a big estate being built with wheelie bin spaces some years ago only for the contractor to later find out that that area did not use wheelie bins.  Things change.I don't think the actual recycling is difficult - it is all there on the website - accessible from the front page.  www.hounslow.gov.uk

Philippa Bond ● 2832d

"It is a great shame that the Council has not been working with residents to find better solutions."This is the problem in a nutshell! This badly run Council does not work with residents at all. They threw the Community Engagement policy, drawn up by the previous administration, under the direction of the ICG, in the bin. ( I wonder if it was shredded and recycled or just shoved in a black bag :-) ) The current system was not discussed with residents, was not thought through and does not work. There was no consultation. That's what you get from a despotic Council. Why they could not even learn a thing or two from properly run Councils one can only wonder.     

Steve Taylor ● 2832d

". Many of us have busy lives to lead with better things to do than wade through the masses of literature and instructions put out about rubbish & recycling - IT HAS TO BE KEPT SIMPLE & EASY (at the moment it is not);"Exactly Jennifer.Two bins with Ealing... with all recycling in one.Job done.You can argue that recycling will be better with lots of buckets....BUT you you have to way up the system that will be acceptable and work. Bit like income tax ;-)

Nick Jenkins ● 2832d

Has anybody successfully ordered a new net for their recycling bins?

Philippa Bond ● 2832d

This is exactly why the Tories complain about the nanny state.  People don't ever seem to vote for higher taxes do they - but somehow they expect services that require them!We need to view rubbish as a resource and in order to do that we need to separate what can be recycled in the councils kerbside contract from what can't.  This has been exacerbated by cheap food and buying on credit so we buy more stuff than we need and waste a lot.

Philippa Bond ● 2832d

I don't like the system and all the bins/clutter it creates as past contributions and actions demonstrate but just what is so difficult to understand about the recycling requirements?I think that if a few primary teachers set their Year 5s the task of reading the leaflets and acting in accordance you would get a high rate of success.People who get overly exercised about having once had a sticker and then feeling justified in throwing all of their rubbish in the wheelie bin need to grow up a bit.

Anne England ● 2832d

I couldn't agree more.  I have seen the operatives at work, and they hand sort everything anyway.  They do all the main boxes at the same time, which I find rather surprising.  In fact I find the whole current recycling system run by Hounslow to be pretty astonishing overall.  hmm

Emma Renton ● 2832d

Why doesn't the operative just take all the 'good plastic' and leave offending object/s in the recycling box along with  sticky label info?  Apart from the obvious time management It doesn't make any sense to sieve through the box and then leave everything because of 1 or 2 items!

Mari Austin ● 2832d

"So what on earth do the stickers say that you find so objectionable?  It is supposed to be best practice to let residents know what the problem is with their bins."If so many residents have a problem with the new wheelie bin / recycle scheme - may be it is more appropriate to change the scheme and not waste money (the money that we, taxpayers pay!) on more stickers? Or does anyone think that if someone gets ten stickers – he/she will understand recycling and/or guard their boxes to make sure nobody places anything inappropriate there?

Alex Shpinkov ● 2832d

So what on earth do the stickers say that you find so objectionable?  It is supposed to be best practice to let residents know what the problem is with their bins.Wales has a 50% recycling rate and these boxes are I'm sure also used in Wales.  I'm surprised though that in some of these streets of small properties that the system for recycling for flats isn't used. One size doesn't fit all - that was also in the WRAP report.  It is a great shame that the Council has not been working with residents to find better solutions.It is true that packaging has changed and is changing.  There is very little that is unrecyclable.  Today I put the thin film lid and bubble wrap from a punnet of strawberries together with some plastic off a piece of cheese in the bin.  There are so many more plastic bottles - ketchup, mayonnaise, Marmite...  so the weight of this packaging has reduced.We'd have less packaging if we complained more about excessive and unnecessary packaging - especially about the oversized boxes some internet shopping arrives in.  There are regulations about excessive packaging and some companies aren't abiding by the rules and do need to be held to account.On TV tonight the BBC were showing film of all the food waste we make.  Apparently it is us the consumers who are the worst.  We need to stop talking about Sell By dates.  That is both Jeremy Cooke and Jay Rayner talking about them in the past couple of weeks who need to be reminded that there is no such thing as a Sell By date. We have Best Before and Use By dates and it is perfectly legal to sell food past its Best Before date.  There is even a company that specialises in doing this but it also has to explain about Best Before and Use By dates:http://store.approvedfood.co.uk/page?name=best-before-datesMost of us who use the food waste bins have succeeded in further reducing our food waste by seeing exactly what we were wasting and finding ways to alter our buying, eating and/or storing habits.  This goes to be made into fertiliser gas and electricity.  Remember that when the lights go out!

Philippa Bond ● 2833d

Just a thought.Christmas is going to be a hoot this year, re: all the above 😩Hope they have ordered in enough Sticker supplies.

Robin Dickers ● 2833d

"But the truth is we feel we are now recycling less and less diligently. And the one size fits all is locally a retrograde step towards being a third world urban mess." Quite right! And the wheelie bin saga has encouraged a lot more 'flytipping' of general household waste. Its not rocket science. People who are fed up with the 'stazi' attitude of the Council refusing to take recyclables because they may be 'contaminated', are dumping instead in the wheelie bin but, as the wheelie is only collected fortnightly, the wheelies overflow and the council won't take any bags stacked on top of a wheelie. Result - if people have excess for the wheelie they walk around the corner of their street and dump anywhere. Wonderful!! Hounslow Borough is an environmental disgrace. The problem is that our Councillors refuse to address the problem because they are warned by leadership to 'back off' so it will only get worse.   

Steve Taylor ● 2833d

I think the figures will no doubt be heavily massaged as per the usual method of B******t baffling brains used so lovingly by the Mayor of London, TfL and Local Councils.It might be that post collection from homes, recycling may go up. But the simple fact is.We throw out the same amount of stuff do the same degree as we did before our homes and streets were turned into 24/7 refuse centres.If I honestly could say we recycle more, or more diligently or that what gets disposed of is significantly reduced, then that would be at least something.But the truth is we feel we are now recycling less and less diligently. And the one size fits all is locally a retrograde step towards being a third world urban mess.

Raymond Havelock ● 2833d

I live in Enfield Road and its a mess.  It used to be a really pretty street until recently.  The front gardens are now full of boxes and rubbish associated stuff.  The street is full of plastic stuff discarded, as none of us pick these up any more - these discardings are not suitable for a recycle box.  Street cleaning happens rarely.  Such a crying shame imho

Emma Renton ● 2833d

For my own peace of mind, as someone who spends alarming amounts of time on recycling, I have been trying to make some sense out of the various statistics that are published on the topic. My overall conclusion is that this is a tangled topic and that we all need much more information if we are to increase recycling rates. Expert opinion (peace be with you, Michael Gove) suggests that the UK as a whole is almost guaranteed to miss the EU target of recycling at least 50% of its household waste by 2020. I hope that this target isn’t dumped as part of Brexit and the Great Repeal Bill.The last edition of the organ called "Hounslow Matters" (October 2017) stated that the recycling rate in Hounslow had risen to 33.9% and is "on track" to reach 50% by 2020. It did not say to which time period the figure of 33.9% refers but I had heard that national recycling rates have been falling recently so I had a look at Hounslow's published recycling figures for earlier years:2012/13: 35.1%2013/14: 35.1%2014/15: 34.5%2015/16: 33.8%The comparable figures for other areas for 2015/16 were: Ealing 43.0%, Richmond 40.1%, Hillingdon 44.1%, Hammersmith and Fulham 22.0%, England as a whole 44.9%. Several European countries exceeded the 50% target several years ago and Germany has a current rate of about 66%.I understand that these recycling rates relate only to household waste and that the rates relate to the %, by weight, of all waste from households. Significant trends in the make-up of recyclable materials include the substitution of plastic for glass, the reduction in newspapers and magazines, and the increase in cardboard (Amazon and all that). Hounslow is a member of the West London Waste Authority and 96% of the non-recyclable (residual) household waste from all of West London is incinerated. There are two incineration plants at Colnbrook and at Severnside. Only about 4% of household residual waste goes to landfill.The overall picture is confused by the separate flows of waste from commercial and business premises, construction, demolition and excavation.  Business rates do not include the collection of commercial waste. For England as whole these sources of waste, by weight, are far greater than from households. Much of the material from construction sites (brick, concrete, timber, earth etc.) can be recycled and rates of 75% are not uncommon. Hounslow has formed a partnership with London Business Waste and Recycling to create Hounslow Business Waste and Recycling, a not-for-profit limited company, which offers a service to local businesses.For England It appears that households account for about 15%, by weight, of all waste arisings. My own view is that the guys who collect our rubbish every week should be regarded as urban heroes and that they would, with adequate guidance and monitoring, ensure that bins and boxes are put back in the right places. I doubt that they are concerned if the odd glass bottle ends up in the plastics section of the lorry. Are the reject stickers recyclable? As a gardening nut by far the greatest category of waste, by weight, from our place is garden waste (the compost bins are full). Has charging for garden waste increased the amount that goes into the grey/black wheelies? Our main, and almost only, constituent of residual waste is plastic film and polystyrene packaging. In times of yore we did produce a lot of nappy waste. My final point is that wheelie bins and recycling containers have had a very significant adverse impact on the attractiveness of our streets. We have all been affected but I can offer Enfield Road and Enfield Road East in Brentford as extreme examples. What’s to be done? Maybe this is little more than a First World problem?

Jim Storrar ● 2833d

"I don’t believe this council will think twice about issuing fines for “Contaminated “ recycling boxes or bags if we’re not up to par in future."Possibly that is why fly-tipping of household waste in black bags has increased so much. Its all over the place. The Borough is a huge rubbish tip. Why can't our Councillors learn from properly run Boroughs like Richmond? You don't find all tis litter and fly-tipping in Barnes!

Steve Taylor ● 2834d

Dont worry they will not fine anyone for dropping litter at the 2018 festival in Boston Manor Park. Just pick off easy targets

Nicholas Beard ● 2834d

Mayor Sue Sampson’s litter police will fine you for dropping a sweet paper, a tissue, fag butt, etc.This while big fly tippers, businesses, the council waste recycling collectors litter all the borough with impunity every week.I don’t believe this council will think twice about issuing fines for “Contaminated “ recycling boxes or bags if we’re not up to par in future.

Robin Dickers ● 2834d

"the initial signs are pointing in the right direction."Very difficult to believe. Everyone I talk to says the opposite and that more recyclables are going into the wheelies. How is it measured and by whom?  Who audits the figures?

Steve Taylor ● 2834d

Can't think who would be jumping for joy, certainly not me. We will get the recycling rate up - as I said the initial signs are pointing in the right direction.

Guy Lambert ● 2834d

Reading through many of the comments here:- 1. Many of us have busy lives to lead with better things to do than wade through the masses of literature and instructions put out about rubbish & recycling - IT HAS TO BE KEPT SIMPLE & EASY (at the moment it is not);2. One size doe not fit all.  Our estate comprises 2 bed, mostly 1 - 2 person, maisonettes, a ground floor one and a 1st floor one, sharing  very small brick built bin areas.  We've kept the 2 regular dustbins which we line with black bags for the fortnightly collection.  2 food caddies fit in but only a sufficient footprint left in the bin area for one recycling box under the concrete "lid" of the bin areas.  Our tiny maisonettes have absolutely no storage space for these large recycling boxes.  The 1st floor homes would in any case have an impossible task carrying these down carpeted stairs.  We have returned many of these large boxes and try to share the ones left between neighbours.  Initially we were all storing mainly air in these boxes, one home barely filling even 1 box.  The exception in a few cases being the plastics box.3. Plastics seem to be the main problem - many older people have prepared foods, always in plastic or foil containers, some seem to drink big quantities of bottled water - can't think why as Thames Water tap is 100% fine but their choice.  In an ideal World, the empty containers should be carried  back to the supermarkets but the old and infirm or the "car-less", cannot do this.  The easy way out is to bung plastics and tins into the outside black bags! Hardly recycling!  A simple solution needs to be found, maybe clear sacks for plastics in addition to the black sacks for non-recyclable refuse.  Doubt a big plastic user would manage a fortnightly collection as per black bags, the clear bags  would have to be collected weekly but at least the stuff would be sorted.  Clear bags are far easier to access, move  & store than huge rigid boxes.

Jennifer Selig ● 2834d

If the % figures don’t achieve their target expectations, if they dare to publish them, what will be this councils next plan?It would no surprise at all if they started issuing fines, instead of getting their own house in order. Some people on this thread would be jumping with joy methinks.

Robin Dickers ● 2834d

'... we pay lip service and dump a few bits in recycling and the rest in the wheelie bin'.Somebody threw their toys out of the pram then?

Anne England ● 2834d

Too much emphasis has been put on Recycling when Reuse comes before Recycling in the waste hierarchy (and Reduce comes before that).  Recycling is and end of current life solution.  So the less you have the easier it is.You used to be able to take plant pots to Syon Park Garden Centre.  I haven't been for ages so can't tell you if you still can.Bubble wrap can protect pots and plants from frost (which I'm sure you already know)!  This can be useful if anyone is having a clear out and selling stuff on Ebay...  You could always offer it to friends or on here - in case someone is doing this - although freecycle is another option.You can find other places to take stuff to be recycled and more info on www.recyclenow.com  I had a look for plastic packaging by putting in an old Chiswick postcode I had and did find some answers but can't of course vouch for them.  So if there is anything you aren't sure of then you could also try here.  Plastic film is more of a problem at the moment with Chinese restrictions.  The first step is always to be sure what the Council takes in its kerbside collection and to make best use of it - then you get best value for money.Has anybody managed to get a replacement net for their box?  You can order replacement "containers" online.The LBH info is easily accessible now from the front page of the Council website and you can click for more details on what can go in that red box to be clear.www.hounslow.gov.uk

Philippa Bond ● 2834d

Yup but not plastic wrapping, plastic pot pots from the garden, plastic bags (weirdly quite a bit of my plastic comes from my Abel and Cole delivery! - I can give this back to them but its find a place to store ).  I also get parcels wrapped in bubble wrap, and other non recyclable wrappings.  Seriously I am happy to recycle but some weeks there are maybe two or three items in the HUGE recycling box.  I forgot about tins, I have a dog, so I could do that but they need washing to stop the foxes getting them.  Sorry I find it all tooooooo difficult right now.

Emma Renton ● 2834d

I must admit that it has taken a while to remember what goes in which container (seems odd that tins go in with plastics) but a number of referrals to the very clear guidance given on the Council's leaflet means that I've finally 'got it'. It seems a bit of an excuse that you have given up on recycling plastics and started, as you say, to throw it all straight into your wheelie bin. Most plastics are recyclable. Here's a reminder of what is okay on the plastic front: bottles, tubs (of the yoghurt variety, not plant) and trays. You are asked to remove the film lids on these same items. Difficult? I don't think so.

Anne England ● 2834d

Silly sticker - I agree.  I spent ages sorting out all my plastic stuff, for it to be rejected.  So from then on it went straight into my wheelie bin.  I don't generate much rubbish overall, and life is too short for me to be constantly checking the poster chart thingy - most basic plastics don't seem to be recyclable.  I am trying hard to not buy products wrapped in plastic etc, but its tough!!!

Emma Renton ● 2834d

Couldn't agree more. It's an insult to get a silly sticker and only encourages people to forget about trying to do the right thing and recycle responsibly when you come up against pedantic despots. Much less stress and hassle to just keep all your containers neatly hidden and stacked away instead of scattered all over the boroughs making the place look like a huge rubbish tip and chuck everything in the wheelie. Job done. All neat and tidy and stress free!!

Steve Taylor ● 2834d

We had the silly stickers a couple of timesJust dumped it all in the wheelie bin in front of the guys, they did nothing...Now we pay lip service and dump a few bits in recycling and the rest in the wheelie binNever had a problem with the bags

Graham Cooper ● 2834d

https://www.letsrecycle.com/news/latest-news/china-set-to-impose-1-limit-rather-than-0-3/The info is there to be seen.  A lot of sorting is needed and contamination is still a big problem...  Has anybody been to any of the shops which sell unpackaged goods?  These are the ones where you take your own container to fill.  There seems to be a bit of a resurgence in these.  https://www.beunpackaged.com/

Philippa Bond ● 2835d

Two wheelie bins are also very difficult to deal with in small properties - they have to be manoeuvred around each other. The bullying way in which the system was implemented in LBH has done the Council no favours.  The small metal bins that many people had before were much more suitable for small properties.  Would you prefer to have your recycling left with no knowledge of why?  I really don't think so.   

Philippa Bond ● 2835d

"You may not have heard of the concept of management."I practise 'effective' management. I guess people in the Council have not heard of that. "Not everybody carries out the tasks set them in the way they are instructed."That is where 'effective' management comes in! "Many of the people who collect rubbish had worked for Suez/Sita for years. Changing habits takes time and patient attention."Nonsense. Those who refuse to conform should be sacked. There should be no excuse if the Borough looks like a huge rubbish tip. Do Councillors take no pride in the Borough? Why settle for lethargy and tardy behaviour?  It's  taxpayers money paying these contractors.

Steve Taylor ● 2835d

What really winds me up is the councils insistance on always using the wholly inappropriate word ‘CONTAMINATED’  as an excuse for non collection. My bloody black bags & recycling boxes are very clean, tidy & free from radiation thank you very much 🙄

Robin Dickers ● 2835d

When I go on the doorsteps, some people have problems, some are very happy. I do casework. If people report problems to me and I know where they live and who they are I do my best to help. You may not have heard of the concept of management. Not everybody carries out the tasks set them in the way they are instructed. Many of the people who collect rubbish had worked for Suez/Sita for years. Changing habits takes time and patient attention.The initial figures for recycling are up by a decent percentage but we're waiting to see if this is sustained before making announcements

Guy Lambert ● 2835d

"Early indications are that recycling is up,"I don't recognise that at all but I do recognise that fly-tipping has increased dramatically across Hounslow since the wheelie bin saga with only fortnightly collections.

Steve Taylor ● 2835d

"Unfortunately the new, new recycling scheme has had the reverse effect on our household .Mind you the road now looks like a Tip anyway with all the boxes & debris after the collection. Be interesting to see the % up figures if & when they’re published."Well, the person responsible for the environmental mess in Hounslow is no longer at the Council so if the figures are published showing the reduction in recycling, nobody will stand up and be counted.  "Mr. Walsh was awarded a £302,000 contractual severance payout when the position of Director of Regeneration, Economic development and the Environment was abolished last July. He had five years service in the job."

Steve Taylor ● 2835d

"If you have a problem don't hesitate to contact councillors - we're determined to make this work for residents and for our recycling goals."Errr..... This thead is proof enough that people are having massive problems and have had problems from word go. What is so difficult to understand?"I am also working on the acknowledged problem of containers not being replaced properly. I was asked to lay off during the summer when the new system was bedding in"You are having a laugh aren't you? Why would you need to lay off when it is so very simple to issue an instruction to all staff to ensure they place containers back where they found them instead of chucking them randomly all over the place. Not rocket science - just common sense and so simple to do.We teach our children to put things back where they found them. Surely we can expect grown men and woman to do likewise? 

Steve Taylor ● 2835d

Early indications are that recycling is up, but it's too early to tell definitively. I'm uncomfortable with the refusal to collect contaminated recycling - at least it should be done sensitively. If you have a problem don't hesitate to contact councillors - we're determined to make this work for residents and for our recycling goals.I am also working on the acknowledged problem of containers not being replaced properly. I was asked to lay off during the summer when the new system was bedding in but they will be working specifically to improve this with a rota of monitoring from the end of November once the new waste depot is in use and supervisors have more capacity.We chose the three container system in common with many other councils because it enables more to be recycled economically and in the end there are both environmental and financial drivers for that.

Guy Lambert ● 2835d

Unfortunately the new, new recycling scheme has had the reverse effect on our household . It’s what they now won’t take (plastic) that’s the problem & has increased our black bag waste & landfill by approx 30% from the start of the scheme. I too have had the stickers & tutorial from the missed collection man.Mind you the road now looks like a Tip anyway with all the boxes & debris after the collection. Be interesting to see the % up figures if & when they’re published.

Robin Dickers ● 2835d

It feels like the great borough of Hounslow is a police state

Bernard Allen ● 2835d

I find it absurd that within a few yards there appears to be different rules for our recycling. (!) The  different coloured boxes & bin system. (2) The flats/shops who still put out their black plastic bags. (3) The 2 bin system employed by Ealing. To make such a fuss because someone dropped  the 'wrong plastic' into the recycling box and yet refused to take the rest of their 'good plastic' in order to 'teach them a lesson' is absolutely ridicules!  Because the boxes are open, any passerby can carelessly dump their papers or drink cans into it so a bit of understanding and tolerance would be helpful not pathetic retorts and pedantic behaviour. I dislike the new system as I find that I have to wash some of my recyclable plastic containers now in order to discourage vermin and the foxes from coming into my now very crowded garden. Why can't I just have 2 bins as my neighbours a few yards from me have? One for rubbish and the other for recycling. I don't actually remember there ever being a consultation on recycling replacement, but I do remember some years ago when the recycling and bin teams were in such a hurry to finish early that I saw 3 of the bin men join 2 of the recycling team and grab bin bags AND the recycling from several gardens and throw it ALL into the SAME dumpster but that was New Years Eve and clearly they had places to be!

Mari Austin ● 2835d

Exactly and that is what I do on occasion - mainly because someone has walked by my recycling bin and um left their rubbish it it.  Mislaid my silly netting thingy right at the start or maybe it was nicked.  I live in a street with a LOT of footfall

Emma Renton ● 2835d

" it seems to work quite well. I'm not sure if we are civilised enough to do it over here."It does indeed work very well in Spain.

Steve Taylor ● 2835d

"Please do not post a url of a web page giving advice as it wont be read"Agreed. We are not a Police State yet are we?

Steve Taylor ● 2835d

"But the results of such implementation of such recycling scheme as well as the mentor lesson given by the Council and the recycle team to the residents actually lead to increase of the contamination."Precisely!  Many people who get these childish notes because they accidently put a piece of cardboard with their plastics simply couldn't be bothered anymore and just dump the lot in their wheelie bin. If people put recycling out, they expect it to collected and not left because the collectors are being ridiculously pedantic.

Steve Taylor ● 2835d

I get on really well with my HotBin - i put all my food waste in there, but i dont eat much meat.  Its not recommended to put meat scraps in it in the Winter months.  I also put quite a lot of cardboard, and torn up newspaper.  Plus leaves at this time of year.  I try really hard to buy products with as little packaging as possible.  But I still seem to end up with a lot of plastic most of which according to the Hounslow guidelines isnt recyclable.  Grrrrr

Emma Renton ● 2835d

So why can't the operatives if they have to sort it leave the offending item behind AND leave a sticker?  Sometimes litterbugs decide to add to boxes.I agree with Bernard about lack of training for the workforce.  I will however repeat that the info on what they want for recycling is on the Council website and generally accessible 24/7 - so much better than when we had to rely on keeping a piece of paper safe.I quite simply didn't understand the OP's post.  Too many people think that because something can be recycled somewhere that their Council includes that in their collection and/or they just can't be bothered to look it up and insist on using a try-it-and-see approach - which definitely doesn't work when the workforce hasn't a clue.  How long does anybody stay in this job I wonder - so how often would they have to give more instruction?There has been an attempt to bring the different systems throughout the UK closer together.  The Recycle Now website run by WRAP and funded by the government is attempting this.  It gives more explanation.  More important than unifying the system would be to make manufacturers more responsible for using materials that could be easily recycled and no more packaging than necessary. Then the Councils (and us) would not end up with the bill. There was another recent unfavourable report about air quality and burning plastics for EfW.  We should also understand that circumstances change – eg China deciding to ban the import of plastics…  and new markets opening up.Emma  I've not progressed from the wormery to a Hotbin so interested at how you get on with yours - although we now make very little food waste and because of there is a food waste collection may not change.  Could you/would you ever consider avoiding any of the unrecyclable packaging that you currently buy?

Philippa Bond ● 2836d

NickolasMy father work in a heavy industry up north and during the war traveled around carrying out maintenance in RAF and Army camps located over the UK.So when I started work he said that I had to start on time Pay attention to what I was being taught, be polite and courteous to my superiors, take your breaks when allowed and work to your contracted time. If you are asked to work over your contracted hours make sure you are remunerate for the extra hours completed.Please remember you are only a number to a large employer, trying to make a good impression by starting early and working late wont get notice by the governors that matter, it doesn't make the slightest bit of difference to when it come to laying employees off. I worked for a large company for 38 years, I decided to take early retirement so to help me and the company out, when asked when I wanted to go, I said, at the end of the financial year, That would make it easier for the company, wouldn't it? The question was never answered, but was asked, can you leave in the first week in January? as anyone leaving under a redundancy scheme or early retirement the company wants them to leave the premise as quick as possible.No thank you for all the work and unpayed favors you put in over the last 38 years, just quote your pay number and collect your P45 on the way out. 

Bernard Allen ● 2836d

As far as i can see very few of the plastic products i seem to have and need to dispose of are 'allowed' in my recycling box, so right now this huge box just sits in my front garden being used by anyone passing by to chuck their no doubt banned crisp packets, beer cans, ciggaretes etc into.  And dont even get me started on leaves and litter in the street.  I think i am currently recycling LESS than before the new system.  Luckily i have a HotBin compost system and that eats all my food waste and some of the leaves and paper, depending on the time of year, so how hot the compost gets.

Emma Renton ● 2836d

Employees are not allowed to think. I have been told many times "you are not here to think you are here to work". The culture has changed over the years. I was on a course and somebody said "If you come in say 5 mins early start work and continue to home time and use your initiave to improve things along the way it must be good". The manager taking the course said, "this is the thinking we are trying to eradicate". That didn't too much for the moral in the room I can tell you

Nicholas Beard ● 2836d

Well I have to disagree. yes the governors are all jobs worth, but why do the operatives have to follow their direction to the letter.Half of a fag packet dropped in the plastics is hardly the crime of the century, the operative could have easy of lob it out when he got to the truck.Would you put your head in a gas oven because your governor told you to? Sorry these employees cant think for themselves so should be let go.     

Bernard Allen ● 2836d

Well said Raymond. Fully agree.

Alex Shpinkov ● 2836d

The Communal bin system here would be stinking day in day out, Outside someones home.  How would you feel if it were outside your home?  The constant noise as people dump and the smell and mess because you can guarantee that daily cleaning will not be factored into the costing. Even if it is it won't be done properly.What I cannot understand is that the local refuse service and recycling worked perfectly well for 10 years.  We chuck out the same stuff and the same volume of stuff. We segregated it in a logical order, it went in to bags and a box, took up no space, was outside for no more than half a day and that was that.It went not trucks in the same way. So how can it be increased?  How can waste have been reduced?  It quite clearly has not.Now we have our tiny front gardens annexed by LBH into mini Space Wayes recycling centres - except they are open to all 24/7. Once tidy small gardens now largely decimated by  lumps of plastic that cannot be put away, won't stack and jam when they do, fill with water, smell and to top it all, inspectors who stick labels on boxes if the wrong kind of plastic is in the plastics box.We have a neighbour who is both colour blind and suffers mild dementia. She has hardly had her waste removed since June. She gets the boxes mixed up.Can you tell which colour is which in the dark? Or remember all the new rules? Not easy even with normal vision and no confusion.LBH have not even bothered to respond to complaints. In the end. it took a Polish neighbour to have a not very quiet word in Russian to the operatives and now they sort her box. A one minute word that somehow proved impossible for LBH to manage in 11 weeks! Simply shameful incompetence.  That was all fine for her until this week when some official came along and prevented them from taking her boxes and put stickers on them.It's not the operatives its the idiots in charge and no doubt the even bigger idiots who devised all this. They need to be made to get out there and do the collections themselves for their higher than average salaries which are clearly not earned.So we and many others who have diligently and enthusiastically recycles since the first day of a green box joined the black bag, now simply cannot be bothered. A simple task has been made overcomplicated, authoritarian and pretty stupid. Most of it simply to suit the productivity of huge waste conglomerates share price.And please Phillippa, I know you mean well and are a bastion of recycling but we do not all need to be taught how to suck eggs.  People are trying to recycle as much as possible, but moving goalposts and muddying the waters in the way that LBH has mismanaged spectacularly is where the problem lies.

Raymond Havelock ● 2837d

I holiday in Spain and they have communal bins at the end of most streets and recycling areas within a few minutes walk, it seems to work quite well. I'm not sure if we are civilised enough to do it over here.

Steve Bullman ● 2837d

The same system right across the country should be primary. I have noticed this on the continent. Pretty obvious. How will we manage after Brexit? We cannot manage bins. I feel sad. I often wonder at night how did we reach this situation? The bins are made in Germany I notice around here. I would have thought we could have made them but I guess we don't have the technology

Nicholas Beard ● 2837d

Quite right the 'brains' that dreamed this up need examining  - stupid bloody system with all these boxes which incidentally don't stack properly anyway. Should have had a system with two wheelies where possible, all recyclables in one and refuse in the other. Why we can't have the same system right across the country beats me, then we'll all know where we are.

Vanessa Smith ● 2837d

That's fair enough. I just don't feel good that the front liners get all sorts of trouble while the bosses who made the decisions relax and get bonuses.

Alex Shpinkov ● 2837d

It was the thick operators, and as they are on the front line so to speak they will cop some flack next week from a few residents. They will be report to the police for blocking the road and causing an obstruction.

Bernard Allen ● 2837d

Interesting tone Phillippa... my post relates to the lack of common sense amongst those who collect the recycling... they were to collect all recycling but one item accidentally was in the wrong box so the whole box wasn't taken...they had to go through the box to find the item so what I am saying is why not take the recycling and leave the wrongly placed item with a label rather than leaving everything... common sense... I don't need a lecture on recycling or indeed a link to a website...

Lisa Deegan ● 2837d

"Maybe Lampton 360 should sack all their current staff  and employ staff with half a brain or train them to have some commonsense."I think what happened yesterday was not up to the operators. It did look like a campaign intended to educate the residents. So if anyone it's the council staff and Lampton management who need to be sacked.

Alex Shpinkov ● 2837d

I think the OP meant that if you accidentally drop the wrong thing in a recycling box, the operators wont take the box.We had two neighbours boxes not emptied yesterday, my wife help her our neigbour go through the plastic box and the two of them couldn't find anything wrong. The other neigbour dropped half of a fag packet in the plastics box so it wasn't taken. Talk about splitting hairs, plus the fact the vehicle stops in a stupid place and blocks any residents from leaving or returning into a large estate.Maybe Lampton 360 should sack all their current staff  and employ staff with half a brain or train them to have some commonsense.You can see there eyes light up when they have to put a sticker on a box it must really make their day.Please do not post a url of a web page giving advice as it wont be read

Bernard Allen ● 2837d

Somewhere hidden away are people making a lot of money out of recycling. After Brexit we should end all this recycling!!!

Nicholas Beard ● 2837d

"The aim is to reduce the contamination and not increase it. "But the results of such implementation of such recycling scheme as well as the mentor lesson given by the Council and the recycle team to the residents actually lead to increase of the contamination.

Alex Shpinkov ● 2837d

http://myzerowaste.com/2009/05/beginners-tips-for-reducing-household-waste/

Philippa Bond ● 2838d

I don't understand your post.  Is or isn't the item put into your kerbside recycling supposed to be collected in the Council kerbside collection?  There is info of what is wanted here:  https://www.hounslow.gov.uk/info/20128/household_recycling_and_waste_collections/1656/your_questions_answered_-_weekly_recyclingWould you prefer your recycling to be left uncollected without any explanation at all? www.recyclenow.com will also give more explanations and give info on other recycling banks and websites.The aim is to reduce the contamination and not increase it.  Other parts of the country are much better than us at this.  We only do a first sort of many that need to be undertaken.

Philippa Bond ● 2838d