Letter: Another box for recycling? Oh goody…
Thursday 5th August 2010, 7:00AM BST.
Letter: I wonder – having just received our latest recycling equipment – if the environment department at the borough council gave any thought to the manner in which the various bins, boxes, bags etc would be used in domestic situations.
The latest item is a bright orange open mesh duffle bag for plastic storage prior to its fortnightly collection.
Having managed to find a home for grey and green bins, and red and blue boxes, it was a blessing in some respects when the blue cardboard bag arrived to be able to hang this item on the wall to allow “hands-free” loading of same. Brilliant, neat and tidy at last. But a duffle bag is an entirely different matter.
Why on earth this could not have been similar to the cardboard bag (other than cost of course) beats me, not to mention the multi-coloured eyesore that litters the highway on collection days.
One does begin to wonder what savings are being made in terms of the environment as we wash endless bottles and packaging with our valuable hot water day in, day out and at the very least you would expect the powers that be” to at least give some thought to the way in which we can store this refuse.
One final problem, which is evident as you journey around the country, is the ever-changing colours of these receptacles from one authority to another. If you holiday in this country the recycling system at your destination appears totally alien to that at home because the colours are totally different yet the shopping and the packaging remains the same.
We cannot even manage to get that right it seems. One day perhaps someone will see sense and put this right.
John Carr
Randlay
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Its a pain. I wonder how much damage is done to the environment and money is spent on these ‘recycling’ boxes, bags etc (is that 6 different containers now including bins?) crazy. A nearby county just puts it all in one box then they sort it out the other end. Add the fact that if you bin lid is open slightly they wont take it. If you have any big size of waste, that needs rid of, you cant get a van and take it to the tip as you need a permit. to stop tradesman dumping? All they have to do is get a van with windows and call it a people carrier, then they can dump it.
They wonder why people fly tip!
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Send the recepticle back and don’t bother if recycling is that much trouble for you Mr Carr.
There are plenty of people who are glad of this service, but obviously there is always someone wanting to pick holes in everything.
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At least the council are now collecting plastics! I can’t see that the material and colour of a bag are really such an issue!
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I burn most of mine paper, box, etc , use the box for growing veg as I have filled the veg patch. And as for making sure my garden wast does not exceed “2 inches behave yourself I am to busy to be cutting it up in to little bits.Give me a shredder.
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took me a few seconds to tap a nail into a cupboard wall to hang the bag on it’s string.
what’s so difficult about that?.
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I live in a cardboard box, now that’s what you call recycling!
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A cardboard box – Luxury!
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A cardboard box with internet access!!!!
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least you got something to put yr plastic in…. we have to squish ours and put in same box as cans… also is it 2 inches long or wide… i chuck mine in no matter how long… just chomp it down with a shovel … i just thought it was prunings no wider than 2 inches… those ones i saw up for my fire…bring back freddie freighter… i have an attic and shed full of old monitors and pc’s etc that are broke and have no way of getting them to harlescott recycling place… i think ive fried my last brain cell wondering where to put everything anymore
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Talking of recycling have you seen the cardboard boxes that Tescos is selling.
what a green wash that is.
they have used energy to make the box even if it is recycled materials then transport the box, when all the time they have thousands of boxes in the back that can be reused like in the old days.
Recycling is not as green as Reuse is!!!
oh yeah i forgot you can earn £30 per ton of can when you sell it to a reprocessor.
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It was bad enough moving collections to every fortnight… and is another way for local councils to save money,
Our new ‘bag’ for plastics arrived 2 weeks ago, so we filled it up with plastic wrappers, bottles etc basically anything plastic!
On collection day only the bottles were taken, so of course the now smelly, wet plastic wrapping was left in the bag for us to dispose of… not sure of the idea of this… plastic collection to me means anything plastic… what a complete waste of time
Its a shame we can’t have a private bin collection.. I would certainly pay for that if it means having our bins collected weekly
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it says on the leaflet with the bag that they wont take plastic film or wrappers.
reading that would have saved you the trouble of writing to complain here.
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hahahah – cant read stevE??
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I’m sure if you want to look in the Yellow Pages you’ll find private waste collectors who’d be happy to discuss providing you with such a service, Steve. Oh, and best of luck finding one who’d do it for any less than the council.
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Something I found slightly ironic was that the plastic wrapper that the plastics recycling bag was contained in, was in itself non recycler-able.
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to be honest, I’m more annoyed that when I phoned the county council to get more cardboard recyle bags, I was told no, because the quota is only 2 bags per house per fortnight. and the next lot of bags will be delivered some time in september.
i’m trying to “do my bit” only to be stopped by the county council.
I was told to put the cardboard into the normal black bin. but if I do that, my normal house hold waste won’t be collected because thats 2 more bags a fortnight.
I feel like I’m fighting a loosing battle.
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Well at leastcan recycle certain plastics now instead or burying them…
just as annoying when you moved to a new house and have a threatening letter that your green bin is being removed because the previous owner had been warned before about contaminating the bin.
phones calls to council and violia to explain, and someone still turned up to remove the bin.. now thats a waste of green house gases burning fuel and wasting tax payers money sending the guy out.
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be glad you live in Telford, because i would much rather have the hair net than YET another box!!! Also telford collects all plastics yet in shrewsbury we are told only plastic bottles can be recycled , yet you dont need to be an expert to know that all types of plastic can be recycled there are a number of local plants operating in the area who recycle all types of plastic – shropshire council is just RUBBISH
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i agree with the tone of the letter though there are too many complicated containers in recycling, just put it all in one and sort it out for us like they do in London its just to complicated and time consuming to sort it all out and after all why should we – we pay for this service after all!
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Sort more at home and you will ultimately pay less for your recycling service! And surely it is everybody’s responsibility to recycle.
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its the councils responsibility – not mine!
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Sorry, it’s not my responsibility to recycle – luckily I have enough room in my black bin – and that’s where it all goes.
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It is everyone’s responsibility to recycle. Next time you chuck something plastic in your black bin just remember that unless it’s been recycled or burned, every single bit of plastic EVER made is still lying somewhere on the earth, maybe buried, maybe littering our streets or countryside, or probably swilling around an ocean somewhere.
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NO – IT IS NOT MY RESPONSIBILITY TO RECYCLE – you can ask that I do it – no more.
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i think its brilliant that T&W are recycling plastics now it makes my life much easier, so much less in the bin and no need to drive to the supermarket to recycle now, FAIR PLAY TO THE COUNCIL THIS IS ACTUALLY A BRILLIANT SCHEME
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I totally agree, have some other people got nothing better going on in their lives than to complain about sorting their recycling into the correct recepticle!
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ID BE GLAD ABOUT THE NEW SERVICE NOT COMPLAINING
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i dont care if they collect it in a paper bag quite frankly im just delighted they are collecting all types of hard solid plastic and thats going to stop so much rubbish going to landfill so its worthwhile
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YOU TELFORD LOT DONT KNOW HOW LUCKY YOU ARE IN SHREWSBURY THE COUNCIL ONLY COLLECTS BOTTLES YOU HAVE A MUCH BETTER SERVICE FOR YOGHURT POTS, BUTTER TUBS AND ALL THAT TOO
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I like to recycle my recycle bins. My box for paper has made a handy bedside table; my box for glass and plastic bottles now has a great crop of tomatoes growing from it; my box for glass has made a perfect store for CDs. My green bin holds all my gardening tools and I still have a grey bin left over to take all of my rubbish! I’m looking forward to finding uses for whatever other containers we’re being sent – it sounds like the orange duffel bag could be very useful on picnics.
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I think, but I’m not sure, that the bins etc all remain the property of the council, so whilst I guess you can do what you want with them you’ll have to find a new home for your tomatoes if they ever ask for them back…
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Perhaps we should charge the council for storage of council property!!!!
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Why do yo wash recycling items.
We are on a water meter, tins are swished around in used washing up water. Plastics are recycled as is. They are cleaned at the processing plants? (Well they should be).
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If this letter was written on paper, I hope they recycled it because all it is, is a load of rubbish!
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u wasteful wasteful person shakewell
shame on you for not recycling, you should be embarrassed for yourself
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I must admit, I try and burn most of my “big” rubbish, this leaves me plenty of room in my blue bin for recycling!
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What is going to happen to all of these respective boxes and bags, out on the roadside mid winter with a howling gail blowing up and down the street. I can only see bright ogange sails floating past, followed shortly by blue sacks full of cardboard, who thought this up and why did it not occur to someone how impractical both would be in windy weather. How much is the council going to have to pay out for replacement bags stuck up trees or on top of chimneys?
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People are confused as to what types of plastic they can recycle as there are so many of them. Why don’t the councils have a display in supermarkets where people buy most of their food from showing the types of plastic bottles etc, they want.
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I think some people here are missing the point…
Telford no have 7 containers for recycling.
Rather than moan like others, i’m currenty trying to assist the council with idea’s to reduce the amount of containers, the manual handling involved, and the ease of recycling.
I used to live in Stafford, recycling was so much easier there.
3 wheelie bins, and they recycle everything that Telford do, check out: http://www.staffordbc.gov.uk/static/Documents/Environmental%20Health/Waste-and-Recycling-Brochure.pdf
Help me try and convince T&W council to run with this idea… I hate recycling in Telford, i loved recyling in Stafford…completely hassle free, and all 3 bins can just sit in the yard as they are completely weather proof!
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All this recycling is great but the last two recycling days I have noticed that all the recycle stuff is actually thrown into a single bin lorry similar to the one for household waste!
What’s the point in me separating it if you are mixing it up again?
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yeah i live in Copthorne and I’ve seen the council/veolia trucks doing just the same thing, i suspect its all going to landfill, whats the point!
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A tip on how to use the Council Plastic box’s. Just fill a box up with compost and purchase 6x8Ft canes and 10 runner bean plants, plant them up at the beginning of June next year and you will have a nice crop to last you through the summer. This can be done even on a small patio. And it works.
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yet another box to litter the drive or clutter the utilty room. Where will it end, perhaps next year another box for ALUMINIUM cans only. I lived in Germany for many years (UK Armed Forces) and recycling there is very rewarding especially plastic bottles. You take them along to the supermarket and pop them into the machine inside the store. It crushes the bottle and according to how many you have have it spits out a few Euro’s for your troubles which you can use for your shopping bill. Interstingly enough you dont see any plastic bottles discarded as litter unlike the junction 7 exit on the M54 !!
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