Monday, October 14, 2013

Rubbish Rubbish Collection Collection

With our lovely council's new, 'improved' system of bin collection just around the corner, my spies tell me that they're already struggling to cope with two wheelie bins per household, let alone the 4,583 bins we'll each have come November!

A reader from the grimy north of the island writes:

I want to know what happened to our bin men this morning. Everyone's bins were mixed up, are you seriously telling me a man can't take a wheelie bin from a property, empty it, and then return it to where he got it?!!!! Neighbours, including a lady pregnant with twins, have been out trying to find their own bins up and down the street. Apparently there are wide bins and skinny bins - who knew!?! I now possess a skinny one which wasn't mine before they came, but I haven't been able to get out and scour the neighbourhood for a wide-that-I-thought-was-standard-size bin!!!! HMPH!

Well that doesn't really bode well for next month, does it? Let's hope the £2,482,245 The Duffers have spent on a fleet of 15 new bin lorries proves worth it!!

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Paint your number on your bin or paint it with your mug shot then nobody would take it'. It won't be long before those enterprising bin washers come round to fleece you.

Peter C said...

Why don't people paint their house numbers on the bins? Quite simple really.

Bernie said...

why don't they come painted if the bin men can't return them to where they got them...?
Should we really have to paint on a number to help the bin men?!!!
FGS the bins have wheels on nowadays, it shouldn't be too hard to remember which house you were last at!!!! Tch!

Mr Thanet Bedz said...

As the bins belong to TDC isn't that criminal damage? (@ Peter Checksfield 2:24)

Peter C said...

Bernie: people also steal bins, and Mr Bedz: TDC actually advised me to do this!

I live in a house with several flats, and two of our three bins have gone missing over the past few months (only one of them has been replaced by TDC); when they delivered a new one they told me to paint our house number on them.

Unknown said...

I have the number painted on my bin. They still get it wrong

Peter C said...

Our bins are usually just left on the pavement, but at least none have gone missing since I put the numbers on a few months back.

One thing they struggle with is working out our many bins we need for 7 flats. First of all they gave us two gigantic industrial bins, which completely filled up the front garden area. After I complained they took one away... and then the other one, which they replaced with three small-but-fat bins. Now they insist that two small bins is enough (it isn't!).

Richard Eastcliff said...

I got some really useful stickers from Wilkinsons with my cliff top mansion number, stuck them on my bins, and within a week the local tykes had peeled them off!

Anonymous said...

I have had a conversation with a TDC Officer who was demonstrating the new bin procedures. She described herself and an 'educator' whose task it was to make us recycle. I said that having all these bins around the house was a bit of an imposition. In her opinion this was my fault because I produced the rubbish. That is the TDC mindset, they are the boss and it's our job to do as we are told. Her persistent patronising grin did not enamour me to the cause.

Anonymous said...

Strictly speaking, Anon, the TDC officer is right that it is you that produces the rubbish. There are major variables in quantities produce by similar sized households.

Rules are now laid down by the EU about recycling so TDC is only complying with a directive from on high. As for the boss relationship, well it is in a way for, whilst we get to elect the councillors, the council itself has enormous powers to enforce and fine.

Think about how many times we have read on this blog criticism of TDC for not enforcing dog litter fines. Is that not also a telling us what to do situation like, clear up after your pe4sky hound.

Schmoozyschlepp said...

Since we produce tons of paper rubbish, I am unclear as to what we are expected to do with the excess that will not be accommodated in the new, small paper bin... none of the info I have seen to date helps with this.

Of course we have too much rubbish, but I'm been composting for 10 years, re-cycling plastics at the place in Westwood for about 5 years and generally recycling paper, bottles etc since time immemorial (or the erection of the first bottle bank on Peckham Rye)... so the real issue is, how can we persuade manufacturers to give us less packaging? I am sure there will be all sorts of cock-ups and the Gazette will come up with a load of half-arsed "stories" about people who are too idle/hard of thinking/physically weak to operate the system correctly and want to blame someone else for their woes. Oh what a great budget of news there will be about it - I am looking forward to that!

Anonymous said...

I think its a good idea with the bins but only if the council can get the new bins and boxes out in time half my road has their small brown bins since the middle of last week(if going by the councils leaflet they are the bigger of the two food waste bins and they haven't got the colours wrong) my family will have to take it to tip at least once a week(family of 6 with 3 fussy eaters)the other half of the road haven't

Anonymous said...

We have numbers painted on our bins but it doesn't seem to do any good. The bin men just throw them back anywhere. Often, they just leave them on the pavement. Maybe the bin-men can't read numbers.

Anonymous said...

Microchip them. What a row this has created in some parts of the country with claims of the council snooping on people.
By 2016 all dogs have to be microchipped, why not wheelie bins?

Anonymous said...

How about microchipping people? Then we can track how long they spend in the bookies, bed, or local Restaurant private room eating £99.99 worth of your finest Kent produce before giving planning consent.

Brenda Stuka said...

There was a PR exercise about this new bin system outside Thanet Gateway on Monday with at least three or four bright young council staff explaining how bins work to anyone who cared to listen.

Meanwhile inside was a long queue of folk trying to talk to the overworked staff on the main counter to arrange to talk to someone at the council about any more pressing concern...

Anonymous said...

What, about their housing benefit, Brenda. Very pressing that!

Anonymous said...

10.09 It is if you're about to be made homeless and therefore become an even more costly burden to society..what's it to do with you anyway you fascist ignoramous!

Anonymous said...

as usual everyone should have had their new bins by last fri. We haven't got one and trying to ring the council is a joke ring in the morning leave a message was told would get ring back that day still no call 2 days later and i give up after 30 mins of listening to the music