By the time this is complete, it will be 10 years since Rhuthun/Ruthin saw the roll-out of the 2x wheelie bin system (in 2009). Now, Denbighshire proposes a shake-up of residential refuse. I refer to news that general waste collections will henceforward be every four weeks, not every two. It's been greeted with distain. I really do wonder what all the fuss is about.
We say... so what. Or, even, hurray.
The council states that it is likely to collect nappies and pet residue weekly. It already collects food waste weekly. It seems likely that it will introduce new fortnightly collections for clothes and small electrical items. Recycled materials will be collected weekly, not fortnightly as now. What, then, is the problem with four-weekly residual waste? You would think it was the end of the world.
All smelly items will go weekly. The size of the residual waste bin will double. Kerbside sorting—once anathema to the council under its previous waste managers—will encourage us to recycle even more. The council appears to have accounted for all eventualities in minimising the amount of residual waste. It also seems that those who complain forget the mess we're in (pun intended) and the amount of plastic washing up on our shores.
By the time this is complete, it will be 10 years since Rhuthun/Ruthin saw the roll-out of the 2x wheelie bin system (in 2009). It replaced sacks and boxes or dumpy bags. For 10 years, we have been co-mingling our recycled waste in one, large blue bin. We were told that this was the most efficient way. The Welsh government tried to force Denbighshire to adopt (or re-adopt) a kerbside sorting system but Denbighshire was intransigent. It ran a campaign to encourage us to write to the Welsh government in support of blue bins.
The council is now proposing kerbside collections of recyclable materials—just as the Welsh government wanted. Rather than dump all our recycleds into one receptacle, we will need to sort different materials into different boxes. Crews on the roadside will then keep each category of material separate. It will be slightly more time-consuming for us but better for recycling rates. And there should be fewer instances of contamination (currently between nine and 12 per cent of recycled material collected). Gangs will, for example, be able to weed out non-recyclable black plastic trays at source, for example.
In spite of the previous campaign to keep them, could the continued and dogmatic use of blue bins actually have resulted in lower recycling rates than we might otherwise have enjoyed? Denbighshire has steadfastly stuck to the mantra that co-mingling was a good idea. Now, we seem to have a volte face. This has been made possible by the retirement a year ago of Denbighshire's binman-in-chief and, last month, the resignation of his waste manager. The former binman-in-chief, in particular, had a lot (perhaps dogmatically) invested in the co-mingling system and his retirement has facilitated a positive rethink.
So, this "package" of measures (pun intended) seems to increase the rate at which we and the council recycles. It will further reduce the amount of general waste. It will help Denbighshire meet new stricter recycling targets imposed by the Welsh government.
And, here's something you haven't read in the newspapers: there are not expected to be redundancies—another bonus in an otherwise difficult public sector environment.
All in all, then, shouldn't we welcome this rather than denigrate it? And if we don't welcome it, we'll get use to it. After all, there aren't any other realistic options, are there. Unless you introduce pay-per-throw...
We say... so what. Or, even, hurray.
From Denbighshire's recycling leaflet... under the proposals, this bin man's job appears safe. He's happy in his job but kerbside collection will result in more lifting and carrying...
The council states that it is likely to collect nappies and pet residue weekly. It already collects food waste weekly. It seems likely that it will introduce new fortnightly collections for clothes and small electrical items. Recycled materials will be collected weekly, not fortnightly as now. What, then, is the problem with four-weekly residual waste? You would think it was the end of the world.
All smelly items will go weekly. The size of the residual waste bin will double. Kerbside sorting—once anathema to the council under its previous waste managers—will encourage us to recycle even more. The council appears to have accounted for all eventualities in minimising the amount of residual waste. It also seems that those who complain forget the mess we're in (pun intended) and the amount of plastic washing up on our shores.
By the time this is complete, it will be 10 years since Rhuthun/Ruthin saw the roll-out of the 2x wheelie bin system (in 2009). It replaced sacks and boxes or dumpy bags. For 10 years, we have been co-mingling our recycled waste in one, large blue bin. We were told that this was the most efficient way. The Welsh government tried to force Denbighshire to adopt (or re-adopt) a kerbside sorting system but Denbighshire was intransigent. It ran a campaign to encourage us to write to the Welsh government in support of blue bins.
The council is now proposing kerbside collections of recyclable materials—just as the Welsh government wanted. Rather than dump all our recycleds into one receptacle, we will need to sort different materials into different boxes. Crews on the roadside will then keep each category of material separate. It will be slightly more time-consuming for us but better for recycling rates. And there should be fewer instances of contamination (currently between nine and 12 per cent of recycled material collected). Gangs will, for example, be able to weed out non-recyclable black plastic trays at source, for example.
In spite of the previous campaign to keep them, could the continued and dogmatic use of blue bins actually have resulted in lower recycling rates than we might otherwise have enjoyed? Denbighshire has steadfastly stuck to the mantra that co-mingling was a good idea. Now, we seem to have a volte face. This has been made possible by the retirement a year ago of Denbighshire's binman-in-chief and, last month, the resignation of his waste manager. The former binman-in-chief, in particular, had a lot (perhaps dogmatically) invested in the co-mingling system and his retirement has facilitated a positive rethink.
So, this "package" of measures (pun intended) seems to increase the rate at which we and the council recycles. It will further reduce the amount of general waste. It will help Denbighshire meet new stricter recycling targets imposed by the Welsh government.
And, here's something you haven't read in the newspapers: there are not expected to be redundancies—another bonus in an otherwise difficult public sector environment.
All in all, then, shouldn't we welcome this rather than denigrate it? And if we don't welcome it, we'll get use to it. After all, there aren't any other realistic options, are there. Unless you introduce pay-per-throw...