Recycling boxes versus pod bins.
I am sick to death of our recycling boxes! Yes it is great to recycle things and have it collected from our kerbside every week but on windy days it drives me to distraction when I come across recycling waste all strewn across the estate. We used to have lids to contain the recycling but most of these have been lost or damaged when thrown to the ground during the refuse collection service or driven over when they have been blown into the roads. Nets were later introduced but I am told they caused a health and safety issue as they get snagged onto the recycling crews boots causing a trip hazard. Some residents use their food waste bin as a weight to try and prevent these boxes from losing their content, not ideal as this tower of recycling boxes and food waste container can easily topple.
I tend to go out on a Monday morning and perform a litter pick. I can walk all over the Heli park, along pub walk and around Tamar Square, then up past the new school playing field, onto parts of The Medway and The Severn. Usually I only fill one large sack, which isn’t bad after a weekend and considering part of my litter pick is along ‘Pub Walk’. Most of the litter collected is recycling litter dropped or blown from recycling boxes.
On a windy weekend however and bear in mind I also do a litter pick on a Friday morning, it is a very different story. I can fill 3 large sacks and more; 95% of which is collected is recycling waste mostly milk cartons. There are boxes and bins all over the place and in general making the estate looks a mess.
This is particularly annoying as recently we have had two clean up events, (making five in total to date) ridding our estate of all the historic litter, which ironically was all recycling waste blown from recycling boxes over the years eventually getting trapped in the hedges.
Visiting my son recently I had recycle wheelie bin envy. Birmingham has introduced wheelie pod bins (I am so jealous!) One bin for all recycling and they have lids to contain the recycling .
The outside and inside of a wheelie pod bin
Recycling rates in Birmingham have soared by up to 18.5 per cent following the introduction of the first wave of wheelie bins.
Birmingham’s recycling rate increases following wheelie bin roll-out
In 1998, Daventry District Council was one of the first authorities to introduce an integrated recycling and waste collection service by virtue of its four-bin system. At the same time it was one of the first authorities in England to successfully introduce an alternate weekly collection of recyclable and residual waste district wide, proving its value as a means of driving public participation in kerbside recycling services.
I wonder how much our recycling rate would increase if ALL the recycling waste that was blown from the recycle boxes actually did get recycled? Why has Daventry District Council not introduced pod wheelie bins?
The introduction of wheelie pod bins will mean the kerbside sorting could still continue as opposed to having it sorted at a depot with specialised equipment. The same refuse lorries could still be used, the bins would be more robust lessening the chance of any damage, the lids would contain all the recycling waste but best of all, I wouldn’t be continually picking up recycling waste blown from recycle boxes EVERY Monday morning.