Telford bins to be checked for recycling
Monday 17th October 2011, 12:56PM BST.
Council snoopers will be sifting through bins in Telford’s Woodside and parts of Madeley in a pilot scheme to increase the authority’s recycling quota.
The rubbish inspectors will take a note of how many items are in each container.
The council today denied it was an exercise in ‘bin snooping’ and said the aim of the rubbish review was purely to look at ways to increase recycling.
It comes as figures today revealed more than 30,000 families in the UK had their bins sifted through last year by councils.
The figure is double that of the previous year, despite a coalition pledge to stamp out the practice.
Shaun Davies, from Telford & Wrekin Council, said: “The council recognises the fantastic effort by the community in increasing the amount we recycle in recent years and wants to engage with the community by reviewing its waste and recycling levels in the area.
“This review is a necessary task if we are to ensure that the additional landfill taxes being levied on councils are not passed on to our council taxpayers. I can assure everyone that this is not an exercise to snoop in bins.”
Council chiefs say the Government levies a charge of £56 per tonne of waste sent to landfill, which is set to rise by 2014.
Council bosses said residents effected by the review would receive a letter shortly to inform them. The initiative will then be rolled out across the borough to encourage recycling.
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you have got to be joking…what a pathetic council we have. its one big joke thats all i have to say
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Pathetic? Not at all.
Once it’s in the (council owned) bin and put out on the (council owned) pavement, it’s the council’s rubbish so they’re entitled to do what they like with it. Have a problem with that? Make your own waste disposal arrangements.
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how on earth is it there rubbish. i think you will find its mine i put it in there. DOH
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No, it’s their rubbish. They have to collect it, sort it, process it, bury it, recycle it, burn it and whatever else they do with it. Once you’ve put your bin out, it’s their ‘problem’, which is why they’re taking measures to reduce the problem caused by people who refuse (pun not intended) to pull their weight and sort their recyclables out.
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WHATEVER TREVOR
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I thought that was all you had to say.
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“The council today denied it was an exercise in ‘bin snooping’ and said the aim of the rubbish review was purely to look at ways to increase recycling.”
“increase recycling” = impose fines.
There!
I told you that once news had gotten out that they were taking photographs of bins a few weeks ago that this would happen!
Why on earth are we keeping these people in office? Anyone?
Well, I propose that we play them at their own game and force them to sift through as much rotten garbage, bags full of heavily soiled cat litter (which from now on, I think I will leave intied), and any exposed to air out-of-date meat products you might have.
If they’re going to find ways to try and lift more money out of our pockets through impending ‘recycling fines’ (and don’t think that it won’t happen to you), then we should make is as unpleasant for them as possible.
Before anyone asks, yes, I recycle as much as I possibly can. But every now and then there’s going to be that odd plastic bottle or that bit of paper which for some reason, won’t make it into the recycling due to lack of time/hands/whatever. Do you really want to find yourself oweing money for that?
*Remember, the council work for you, not the other way round-remind them of this.*
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Where have you got this notion of ‘recycling fines’ from? You are making assumptions and being paranoid. Councils need to know what people are throwing away so that they can make provisions to improve the service where possible. They are not targeting you, Mr Grumpy, as an individual but as a resident of Telford which I am as well. Get a grip!
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Councils know exactly what people throw away as they get billed for each type of it. Sifting through bins is not a research project to ‘improve their service’ which is a nonsensical concept.
Sifting through bins is to identify how much recyclable waste is not being pre-sorted by residents. This will allow the Council to set future strategy on targeting increases in recycling rates. Such strategies could be legal enforcement, bin taxes or changes to the method of collection but only a civil servant would call such things ‘improving their service’.
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Oi grumpy. If you are recycling properly then you have nothing to worry about. As for making their job even more difficult then don’t complain to everyone when they want more of YOUR money to pay for it all.
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“Council snoopers”… “Rubbish inspectors”…
Whatever happened to impartial reporting?
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If it ever existed at the Shropshire Star it was before my time.
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Its called free speech, you know a human right!
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Blimey! Better ring Liberty, quickly.
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“The rubbish inspectors”
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A bit unfair – OK maybe they are not that good but give them a chance!
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Typical Shropshire Star! – Daily Mail?
No wonder the local press is on its knees!
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They will be lucky to find any bins of rubbish at woodside, the natives usually just dump it over the nearest fence onto wasteland or in some case just pile it up in their back gardens to fester away.
There will be no point fining them either as they are unlikely to have any money once the beer, fags & sky TV have been paid for out of their benefits.
To add some reality to the debate. Landfill tax will be £80 per tonne in a year or two so every council is desparate to avoid landfill to avoid the tax. The tax has to be paid for out of Council tax so if you want to reduce the tax rises then you need to recycle more – or at the very least burn your waste when you dump it.
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George
I am originally a NATIVE of Dawley, now residing on Woodside. There is probably the same, (if not more), percentage of Dawley residents who fit your description, albeit spread over a wider area! Your comments would have befitted Woodside 10 years or more ago but certainly not now. Do you burn your waste when you dump it or just in your back garden?
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Never fly tip mate, its not nice. Do my best to recycle but can’t be fussed with council collection so take to recycling centre on way to work and even use tesco to get the points back on metal cans! Have compost bin in garden and water butt on shed. I am not claiming to be a saint buts its not hard to get 90% of what the council expect us to do.
Take a look at Woodside now and you will find abandoned doors, bags of soiled nappies and rubble left strewn liberally around the place. Yes, Dawley, Sutton Hill, Donington, Hadley and wellington have the same issues in places but the Council are targeting Woodside at the moment.
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George
I’ve never understood the mentality behind fly-tipping myself either. Like you I do my best to recycle wherever possible. I have a 13 year old and 4 year old happy to sort it at home as part of pocket money chores so don’t understand why supposedly responsible adults, (homeowners, parents, etc.), find it so difficult to do. (Perhaps they need financial encouragement too).
Suggest you use the council collection as you’re paying for it in taxes anyway.
I agree that certain areas of Woodside do seem to have localised “trouble spots” of fly tipping but again, this is evident throughout Telford and beyond. Maybe bin inspectors could stake-out fly tippping haunts and prosecute those responsible instead. I’m sure the results would be more asthetically and financially appealing!
We can’t keep burying our rubbish in the ground forever! “Sorry kids, no playgrounds or open spaces left anymore, we’ve had to dig them up to bury your rubbish!”
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George@Dawley, can you expand on those Tesco points for cans? How does that work and where are the collection centres that pay out the points? I’ve not heard that one before and I hate to miss out on freebies.
And if they’re rewarding for recycling, it’s got my attention, so then maybe the council could follow their lead and use a similar scheme to grab other peoples’ attention. Might be more productive.
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How bist thee jockey. No trouble like this in Shrewsbury.
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won’t be ours either soon John, we’ll be able to send all our rubbish over your way for burning…..mon.
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Fair comment, but I hope not Jockey lad
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Tesco at Wellington have the Clubcard recycling centre its next to the petrol station. Not sure exactly how many points you get for each type but it prefers aluminium cans above anything else. In the old days before the recession, you got points for bottles and plastic too but sadly no more.
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The trouble is with the recycling bins is where the heck are you supposed to put all the bins cos i am running out of space, they should find a way to keep them outside without impeding on our living space!
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why not supply us with bigger and proper bins then it could be done properly first time ?
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We had some council bin snoopers around our way a few months ago. They left a lager can in my bin and I never drink lager or canned beer ….perhaps I should have fined them for putting recycleable rubbish in my waste bin…..thanks for your efforts muppets but you emptied it the following time because I wsn’t going to remove it.
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I’d like to ask how are those severely disabled supposed to be able to trog back and forth all day with various bits of rubbish to put in various different boxes/bags/bins when they can hardly walk. Don’t expect their rubbish inspector will give that a second thought will they?
If you don’t believe there won’t be fines… watch this space!
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The majority of people are perfectly able to sort their recycling out. The small minority who are legitimately unable to comply with requirements can be dealt with on an individual basis. It’s pretty obvious, really.
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John, you are so right, I have a member of my family that relies on paid carers to support her 4 x times daily, and yes, most of her rubish all go into the one bin, the only exception is free newspapers and the like. so what would our bin police do about that. DO OUR HOSPITALS RECYCLE, from what I have seen, the answer may well be NO
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Hospitals don’t put their rubbish out for the council to collect either, thye like all businesses use trade waste disposal firms who charge for every tonne. They do separate medical waste from general waste but it would be too costly for them to sift through their litter bins and separate oit mixed waste. They could (and the ones i have been in do) use separate bins for papaer, cans , plastic and a mixed one for everything else. Airports and the like do this as it saves them hard cash. This is what the Concil are attempting to do, the differenec is the public don’t see the hard cash so don’t think they should bother which is wrong.
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Unite against the rubbish inspection Militia , never in the field of human endeavour has so much been scrutinised by so few for so many, we shall fight them in the skip yards and the land fill sites , we shall never surrender never surrender never surrender except for good sense and reason, bring on the fines and charges we shall make the poll tax riots look like a Dawley carnival. HAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!!!!!
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The bin in the picture is not filled correctly one tin in there , that box will be left cant be having one tin in the wrong box .
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The only people that complain and worry about this is the people that are doing wrong. A bit like a lot of other things that governments or councils impose. They can look at my bin anytime they like. I have nothing to hide. I would welcome them to infact, if I am doing something wrong I would like to know about it!
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I know the council are trying to encourage people to recycle, but where are we meant to keep all the boxes, bags etc ? And if they look in a bin and find recyclable rubbish, what happens then? Do the homeowners get a letter, a fine, named and shamed ? Correct me if I’m wrong, but it’s not against the law not to recycle is it ? Another thing, the recycled rubbish, where does that go ? Does it get sold off to recycling companies, if so, who’s making money out of it when the original packet or botle was bought by the homeowner ? Maybe homeowners should recieve some kind of payment / reduction in council tax as an incentive for recycling. ( I’m going away now, to think of more questions !)
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It’s simple. Just make sure you recycle. If you are complaining, I’d guess that it’s because you are too lazy to recycle.
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Nonsense. I am not ‘too lazy to recycle’ but have very good reason to be suspicious of the council’s motives.
Bin taxes, recycling fines or whatever you wish to call them will always be looming on the horizon as an option for councils to once again trounce the average government-mugged, poverty stricken family already making do with sub standard council service, and you’re naive to think otherwise.
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Is it against the law NOT to recycle??
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It’s not against the law. Recycling is to reduce amount of landfill and is therefore good for the environment. I don’t see why everyone has such an issue you with this.
It’s not difficult to recycle, as Tim says it is just that people are too lazy.
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No-one’s complaining that the concept of recycling itself is too much effort, it’s the bumbling attempts of the council to introduce it into our everyday lives with mismatched eyesore containers, whilst appearing to look to exploit the opportunity to extract further revenue from us under the guise of enforcement with ‘rubbish reviews’ that’s the problem.
Feel free to sit back smugly thinking it won’t happen to you if they do decide to impose a non-recycling penalty system, but wait for the penalty letter to drop through your letterbox one day because unbeknownst to you, a passer-by has just finished their bottle of drink and dropped it into your wheelie bin on the way past your house. Or you may even fall victim to the ‘mystery neighbour’ whose own wheelie bin is too full and decides to use yours seeing as you’ve got some space in it and ends up leaving you with a bin lid that’s-*gasp*-half an inch open. The chances are that they’re probably not that bothered about recycling either.
It happens a lot more than you think and yes, it’s happened to me on more than one occasion. I don’t even consider my wheelie bin ‘on the way’ to anywhere in particular, and I’ve found other people’s rubbish in it!
Incidentally I have no qualms about the council making money from recycling if it’s possible, just not from the very people who have done that initial sorting work for them.
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I cannot believe how paranoid people are. Maybe you should padlock your bin to stop this happening and then you might be able to sleep at night!
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Haha, so they could then fine me for ‘vandalising’ my own bin with a lock & bracket, bought at my expense? Not likely.
Paranioa is when you *think* they’re out to get you. Having my bin used as a community dumping facility *actually* happened.
I sleep just fine at night, incidentally.
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Good, hope they do it everywhere, there’s still way too many people who dont recycle.
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I do hope these new requirements create new jobs. Where do I sign up?
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Its about time the council learnt and were able to make a PROFIT from the waste and then lower council tax. simple.
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if only waste was profitable mate, then you wouldnt have to pay taxes for it, they would pay you, one day maybe peopel will come knocking on your door asking you to give them your mouldy bread, nappies, apple cores and dirty plastic wrappers
until that day, the public sector will have to pick up the tab
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Recycling centres pay around the following prices for our waste…..Plastics about £200/tonne, cardboard and paper/cardboard about £100, glass about £25/T and aluminium cans about£800/tonne, yep the poor old Public Services are certainly “picking up the tab”, aren’t they Helen?
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I think there is a misconception that the council encourage recycling for their own gains.
Having done research on recycling some years ago whilst studying I remember that it is the Government that dictate to the councils what % of waste is expected from them as part of their effort to save our planet.
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Recycling centres pay around the following prices for our waste…..Plastics about £200/tonne, cardboard and paper/cardboard about £100, glass about £25/T and aluminium cans about£800/tonne, yep the poor old council certainly is losing out there aren’t they Linda?
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The Council doesn’t receive any of this as an income. The Council pays companies to act as waste contractors to collect and dispose of householders waste as appropriate and agreed in the contract. Any incomes from the sale of waste goes to the contractors, not to the Council. Just wanted you to know!
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Well if that’s true, it’s just another example of how the public services don’t know how to run a profit making business…get some decent managers in and start making money on waste, instead of donating it to their mates.
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good on them
well done telford council
forward thinking, innovative, saving money and the planet
light years ahead of the rest of shropshire AGAIN!
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good
they should MAKE them recycle
we all have to why cant they?
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they should also look at other ways to encourage people in the area to recycle for instance reward schemes for regular recyclers to get cash back vouchers and my idea would be linking benefit levels to recycling rates this would shoot up in this area then
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Well done telford council
Why cant shropshire council do this in places like harlescott and ditherington where you can see overflowing rubbish bins every day and no recycling boxes put out on recycling day – those people should be ashamed of themselves for letting their county down
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and you thought the stasi was just in east germany, this shows what you get with socialists running things they are just like facists they like to spy
this would nver have happened with a conservative adminstration who respect peoples rights to do what they like
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I’m all for recycling, but it’s such a pity Telford make it more work than it needs to be. I have relatives in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, and they have weekly collections of rubblish and recycling. 3 bins – 1 for rubblish; 1 for green/garden waste; 1 for everything else and a machine sorts it.
We have to carry all the various boxes and orange net bags to the end of our cul-de-sac too. (But I still do it).
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Seems to me a whole lot of fuss over nothing on this comment stream.
If you don’t like recycling, then stop buying stuff in packets, tins, cardboard, plastic. Then there’ll be no waste and no recycling.. Easy.
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I’m not having dirty smelly recycling containers in my living space and the council do not provide an external storage area. Until they do then I won’t bother
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Why would the recycling container be dirty? Paper and cardboard are usually clean. Cans and tins can easily be given a quick clean after washing the dishes if needed. Same with plastic bottles. There is no reason why any recycling containers should be dirty and smelly.
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Usually I am pretty good at taking a kick at the Shropshire County Council – this includes for all its sins Telford. I am always pretty disgusted to see the way that rubbish is handled in Shropshire, not only but also. I can only say that here in Germany we have no problems with such things – at least I am speaking for the state of Rheinland-Palatinate (the rules vary from state to state). Three bins – grey for general rubbish, yellow for reusable (quasi recycle rubbish) and brown for garden or bio-waste. Paper is bundled and collected on a regular basis. If I have to bitch it is because although we compost anything bio, we still have to pay for a brown bin! Each household can free of charge have other stuff (carpets, furniture, etc.) picked up twice a year – this of course helps eliminate fly-tipping.
SCC including Telford should take a good look at what is availble and how it works the rest fellow Salopians is up to you – in defence of the Council – make it work!
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Did anyone see the dispatches program on tv the other day?? Until the manufacturers of the waste take responsibility for the packaging they sell with the product, in my mind it is a no win situation, back when I was a child, we could send bottles back to the pubs, cheese was sold in brown paper, the whole problem is with presentation and the way we perceive quality, when we buy a packet of a “top of the range” food product and you get not only the product, you get plastic wrapping, cardboard filling, un recyclable film, all just to make the product more appealing. It’s a joke that the consumer could be
penalised, when surely it is the responsibility of the manufactures.
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I totally agree with this.
I don’t know at what point in time I had to get the toolbox out in order to prise a small doll out of its carboard box full of various fixings & fastenings for my daughter at Christmas, but what I do know is that whatever crackpot EU regulations stated that all packaging must be made so secure that only power tools and dynamite can open it needs to amended urgently. Packaging has gone ever so slightly mad over the decade.
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i agree with the comments that they dont make it easy for you
im all for recycling but it is a pain
other councils do mixed collections and sort it out for you with no increase in costs so why cant telford and shropshire ?
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At the moment the Councils have seperate boxes because it means that the quality of recycling materials is higher than if lots of different materials were all collected together. But the sorting technologies are getting better so perhaps that won’t be an issue for too much longer!
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I bought a flat in Brookside after moving from a house in Donnington where I always recycled using the boxes and bins provided.
There’s no point in trying to recycle in Brookside if you’re working as by the time you get home your boxes have all been nicked by local scrotes!
I had this happen 3 consecutive times I tried after asking for replacement boxes.
So now everything goes in the red bin. If I get targetted by the council for this then i’m not going to be impressed
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they can look in mine any time
nothing but the kids nappies, crisp packets and the odd cigarette butt
i recycle EVERYTHING – all plastics can go to the cae post skip in bishops castle and even take the cartons to the recycling centre
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Has this been misreported by the Star?
According to a tweet today by TWC:
“Our recycling review starts Woodside 9 Nov to see what materials are being put out. It will not include waste in your grey wheelie bin!”
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