Bin day Bothers

Salu · 17-01-2006, 11:24

I missed putting out my bin last night so I now have a week to wait until they come to empty it again. That's one more week of smells drifting across my driveway....

[sigh]

We have the wheelie bin system where you have to drag the bin to the pavement, the bin men then move it to the lorry, press a button and it automatically empties. They then carefully place the bin in front of your driveway so that you can't drive in when you get back home. It's a bit easier for them then replacing it where I left it. Poor things....

Remember the days when the binmen used to come to the back of your house and actually carry it to the van and empty it? I don't forget it often but I do wish that they would assume you have forgotten it rather than assume that you have no rubbish this week....How do the aged and infirm manage to drag it to the front of their house? I can see that they must feel that if they start doing that then no-one will bother to put the bin in front of their house. Is that really a problem though? Their predecessors did that, and they have to lift it over their shoulders. Now a machine lifts it for them.

Some places around here only have a fortnight collection which is not hygienic in my opinion, not in a civilised society.

Anybody got any stories or opinions to share?

17-01-2006, 11:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by Salu

I missed putting out my bin last night so I now have a week to wait until they come to empty it again. That's one more week of smells drifting across my driveway....

[sigh]

We have the wheelie bin system where you have to drag the bin to the pavement, the bin men then move it to the lorry, press a button and it automatically empties. They then carefully place the bin in front of your driveway so that you can't drive in when you get back home. It's a bit easier for them then replacing it where I left it. Poor things....

Remember the days when the binmen used to come to the back of your house and actually carry it to the van and empty it? I don't forget it often but I do wish that they would assume you have forgotten it rather than assume that you have no rubbish this week....How do the aged and infirm manage to drag it to the front of their house? I can see that they must feel that if they start doing that then no-one will bother to put the bin in front of their house. Is that really a problem though? Their predecessors did that, and they have to lift it over their shoulders. Now a machine lifts it for them.

Some places around here only have a fortnight collection which is not hygienic in my opinion, not in a civilised society.

Anybody got any stories or opinions to share?

Bin men round here are pretty good, bins tend to end up out of the way of drives and pedestrians.
They come once a week, they clean up any spills or mess they make in th eprocess, they often take other things left out with the bin also.

I know a binman, he worked at it for years, he still does, he's a lot safer now with the wheelie bin system as there less chance of cutting himself on rubbish in the bags, or straining his back lifting heavy objects. Dont foget these guys walk miles and miles a day, it is a strnuous job, even now.

Its regrettable that you forget to put your bin out, but thats your fault not the binmans.

Ramrod · 17-01-2006, 11:37

I didn't bother leaving a christmas tip for the bin men this year because of their charming little habit of leaving the bins/boxes anywhere they feel like......they didn't even bother tidying up their act on the run up to christmas this year...

SMHarman · 17-01-2006, 11:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Salu

Some places around here only have a fortnight collection which is not hygienic in my opinion, not in a civilised society.

I agree in Hoboken, NJ, USA, general rubbish is collected twice a week and then cardboard/paper once a week, glass on another day and cans on another. No collections on the weekend. Fantastic.

TheDaddy · 17-01-2006, 11:38

We have the same fortnightly collection system here, I bet your council tax bill for refuse collection was not halved though, seeing as the council are now offering half the service they used to for the same money perhaps it should have been.

Halcyon · 17-01-2006, 11:39

Its all about cutting costs and the council doing less and us doing more now a days. Some of them are no good at all. Often, after putting out stuff for recycling, we find half of it is left over the pavement and the bins have been taken to the wrong houses.
Instead of waiting a week, you could stick it all in the boot of your car and head down to your local tip.

liamboyle06 · 17-01-2006, 11:40

We have to drag our bin to the car park so it can be emptied, as as they usually arrive about 9:00 am, if slept in would take 2 weeks again before being emptied.
we pay to have the bin cleaned every time, which also means that it is left right in our back yard and not having to worry about it while working.

Saying that our my bin men do not lift anything other than the bin, black bags or otherwise sit in the street until somebody decides to lift it.

TheDaddy · 17-01-2006, 11:46

I am sure that there must be some sort of health and saftey issue here as well, it's hardly hygienic having rotting rubbish left for two weeks, especially in the summer.

**Chris** · 17-01-2006, 11:49

Councils generally keep a register of those people who need help wheeling out their bins. The binmen then wheel these bins out and back. I suspect many councils don't go out of their way to publicise this though.

It's brilliant where we live, as there are so few of us we don't get a regular bin lorry for the 'landfill' waste - it's just a bloke with a transit with an open cage on the back. That means he hoiks anything you leave out into it, whether it fits in the wheelie bin or not. He comes once a fortnight, and the second wheelie bin, a brown one for compostable waste, is emptied the alternate fortnight. So we get a visit once a week for the wheelie bins. Additionally, we sort glass, paper, plastic and metal into boxes that are emptied weekly. Provided we put all our waste in the appropriate bin, we're not normally short of space to keep it.

My only gripe with Stirlingshire council is they are very picky about their plastic. They will only recycle type 2 (LDPE). All other kinds of plastic have to go in the landfill wheelie. It annoys me every time I have to throw out a plastic bottle that my council has deemed it too much hassle to recycle, even though I know it is entirely recyclable.

ian@huth · 17-01-2006, 11:51

We have two wheelie bins and a blue box.

Black lidded bin for general rubish emptied every two weeks.

Green lidded bin for certain recyclables, paper, cardboard, tins, plastic soft drink bottles, etc.

Blue box emptied every 4 weeks for glass.

They will not empty a bin if the lid isn't fully closed. Leave it only a couple of inches open and it gets left. That's great when you get home and find your bin unemptied because someone had stuck their rubbish in it and you have two weeks to go before next collection.

They will not take anything left near the bin, only the one bin.

They never check to make sure all the rubbish has been emptied from the bin. Sometimes bin gets choked with trying to make sure bin lid is fully closed with having two weeks rubbish.

They want the bin leaving so that it doesn't block the pavement and the handle is facing the correct way. They just push the emptied bin in the general dirction of your house not bothering about whether the pavement or drive access is blocked. Many a time the bin is left 15 yards up the road blocking someone else's drive.

If the bin hasn't been emptied or only part emptied and you phone the refuse collection department they will send out a lorry and crew to empty it. What a waste of resources that could have been avoided if the job had been done right in the first place.

TheDaddy · 17-01-2006, 11:54

Sounds like we could do with performance related pay for bin men and council jobsworths.

Paul · 17-01-2006, 12:01

We are told to have our bins out for 7am to ensure collection as that is when collections start in this area.... very annoying to see the bin men going past at 6.15 am just as you are about to go down to put your bags out.

Salu · 17-01-2006, 12:08

Doesn't anyone feel that they should come and retrieve the bin like they used to? It's on wheels now so should be easier. Mind bin is actually only stored about 2 foot away from where I place it for collection.....just behind my wall....I know they may suspect that some will just leave it in situ rather than move it to the pavement but I think a lot of people would oblige. It's just really annoying to have to wait another week/fortnight.......

Quote:

Originally Posted by timewarrior2001

Its regrettable that you forget to put your bin out, but thats your fault not the binmans.

I appreciate it's my fault. I never agreed in the first place to put it on the pavement from when they decided that they would no longer collect it from my passage.

marky · 17-01-2006, 12:13

They seem to have a thing around here, if they cant move it with 1 finger they put a sticker on saying "to heavy".
If the lid isnt closed, you get a "to full",
You then phone the council and they send a bin waggon out to empty it

Paul · 17-01-2006, 12:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Salu

I appreciate it's my fault. I never agreed in the first place to put it on the pavement from when they decided that they would no longer collect it from my passage.

Hang on!! You want someone to collect waste from your passage? Now I've heard of some strange things in my time but......

On a sensible note though there are issues with people having to access peoples property to remove waste. If anything happens and the bin man is injured who would be liable for damages and on the flip side what happens if something goes missing from the garden/ property? Who will be blamed for that?