Quote:
Originally Posted by Guinness
Two questions for the councillors who post on this forum...
a) How does the council distinguish that "some areas of the borough had very low recycling rates" as opposed to areas that have high recycling rates?
b) At which council meeting was this motion passed?
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a) It really all depends on the area that the waste comes from which is a bit of an inexact science since Asian communities use far more plastic bottles from drinking more milk. It comes across as an attempt to get residents between wards to compete with one another to see who can recycle the most.
b) I'm not sure, certainly not a full council meeting that I recall, but fines have been standard for some time now. The environmental health inspectors will issue fines for anyone who they can prove has been dumping rubbish improperly, which includes fly-tipping and leaving bin liners at the side of wheelie bins. The stickers just seem to be a reminder that fines will be issued for abusing the waste system and to try and get people to do things properly. I have to say that the bin men in Rishton are very obliging when you have anything extra to get rid of if you ask them nicely.
I don't disagree in principle with fining people who abuse the system but I must admit that the sticker on my bin did make me wonder what I'd done to deserve such a notice. Hyndburn Council has one of the best recycling rates in the country and they're probably keen to keep it that way.
The current system of separating everything at the doorstep is apparently much cheaper than the new blue wheelie bins that are appearing in other boroughs into which ALL recyclable material gets thrown, barring green waste.
I must admit that I'd prefer a blue bin myself to keep my shed tidier but until the cost of doing that drops it looks like we're stuck with the current system.