Fortnightly rubbish collections should not be introduced everywhere and there is no proof they increase recycling, according to MPs.

A report by the Communities and Local Government Select Committee labelled plans to let councils give money back to people who recycle "timid", adding they were likely to increase fly-tipping.

About 140 councils in England have adopted alternate week collection schemes - when recycling is taken one week and non-recyclable waste the next.

What has been your experience with fortnightly rubbish collections? Tell us your stories...

Comments

[neil in poole Jul 31, 2007 5:09:36 PM]

i am my mothers carer and totally aggree wif pay as u dump,our landfill sites r filling up,more that gets recycled less goin to land fill.more u dump more u pay this money should be put back into employing wardens to ensure we all do sort our rubbish,these ppl would then be not only charged more but given the incentive to conform with the rest of us.also a tracker device can be placed in the rubbish to stop fly tipping,hence no one will be able to evade the sorting and name and shaming also use of asbo,s would be nother deterant to flytipping

[Vicky Jul 27, 2007 4:47:09 AM]

What I think is really stupid is, the state we must recycle and also we also have this new green bag garden waste collection every so often now, but with both recycling and the garden waste collection on two occassions I have had to ring the depot and complain that the collection was not made and the whole street still has the bags or boxes inthe street waiting to be collected so that they can start again, if they are not serious about it and dont want to do it, then leave it to the good old dustbin man, that we all are used to, and dont take his job away.

[Vicky Jul 27, 2007 4:43:46 AM]

What I dont get is this, my parents area has just started up the fortnightly recycle pick up, yes all good, but what is the point of it being fortnightly? the bin men come once a week so on the week the recycle isnt picked up it all goes to the bin men anyway? so why not if they are intent on carrying on this recycle thing do it every week, people may be more inclined to do it then. Otherwise I dont see the point, and feel it is defeating the object of recycling.

[Clive, Glasgow Jul 23, 2007 12:30:16 PM]

I'm sure in the arly/mid 90's I heard of council recycling machines that could seperate our waste and prepare it for recycling - i.e. metal, plastics, etc. What happened to these? Whay are we now asked to seperate all our rubbish into seperate bins?

[Mark Jul 19, 2007 1:08:00 PM]

I agree with the comments some people put about other countries but we dont have that here (yet). The simple fact is that the local councils are saving money by only sending the bin men out once a fortnight. Do we get a reduction in council tax or whatever they call it? I dont think so!

[Lehlia -Sale, Cheshire Jul 17, 2007 10:50:56 AM]

I'm not saying the fortnightly collection won't work, I'm saying it's a farce to say they are doing it to increase recycling.
As I stated earlier, I'm from Canada and used to recycling almost everything. I've been so angry about what I have to throw away over here. I want to recycle more but I'm not able to because they simply don't have the system to do it. I also can't see how giving a very limited number of locations to take your plastic to (only bottles not any other plastics) and then to need to drive to the location, could possibly be helping the environment or encouraging people to recycle.
I also fail to see how limiting the quantity you can put out for recycling is encouraging more recycling.
Stop the farce! Stop putting up a smoke screen!
Spend the money to get the system in place to allow proper recycling and then you won't need to worry about tips!

[acwoof Jul 17, 2007 8:29:35 AM]

our bins are emptied fortnightly in blackpool,i have 7 people in my household and we fill every bin to the full.our general waste bin for food etc.. has maggots(i have cleaned it out 5 times so far for this summer),it is getting to the point where my mother who lives with us is going to apply for a council flat to help ease the burden.this whole thing is unfair to large families who struggle enough to pay thier council tax.i feel my family does more than enough for protecting the environment by not having a motor car,however i am currently debating if i should learn to drive just so that i can take extra rubbish to the landfill site myself.we have canceled takeaways in our household to help cut out waste ,we do not buy cereals in boxes or tinned vegetables to help also.we have asked blackpool council for a extra bin but the reply we get is that someone can come round and show us how to dispose of our waste -even though we do a good job at the moment.the council cannot understand that bigger families create more waste.

[Ken, barnsley Jul 16, 2007 5:04:04 PM]

we do recycle all we can. but wait a minute. all recyled goods paper glass tins etc can be sold .companys buy this waste. SO WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO. ask a member of the council . all they can say is you can buy top class compost cheap

[Ali Bristol/South Gloucestershire Jul 16, 2007 2:17:15 PM]

I live in the South Gloucestershire area of Bristol and we already have a fortnightly collection. We have no problems with rats, maggots or smells. We all seal our bags correctly and recycle as much as possible. We do have a problem though with manufacturers of food for example using packaging that can not be recycled. This is a major problem and should be tackled by the government and not just blame the local councils, waste management companies or even us householders.

[Gino, Marbella Jul 16, 2007 2:00:23 PM]

In Spain rubbish is collected every night and we have rubbish bins to put it all in. We have separate containers for glass and paper on almost every street corner, and on a lot of them even textile containers, I believe the clothes are washed and sent to third world countries, hehehe probably Britain. My council tax (including rubbish collection) was about 300 Euros for the year (about 200 sterling)per house.

[Henry Jul 16, 2007 1:44:59 PM]

Hi, I am writing to support Steves posting (Steve In Germany Jul 16, 2007 12:05:32 PM )
I also live in Germany as a Private Citizen. The 4 members of my family produce less than 120 liters of rubbish destined for the land fill which is collected every THREE WEEKS!!!
This means that we have seperate bins for Paper, Recyclables and Organic/Garden waste.
We have to take our Glass to a collection point.
We have no Problems with Smells or Animals.
I visit England regularly and I see how much Rubbish members of my Family produce in the UK and it is all destined for the landfill.

[Colin Brooker Jul 16, 2007 1:26:48 PM]

One collection a week and no
recycling.Build all new prisons next to recycling centers.My council rates go up
to provide inmates with three square meals and a game of pool perhaps they can sort our
rubbish for us and we have less work and less bins and rubbish on the roads.

[Ken, barnsley Jul 16, 2007 1:25:31 PM]

We have been having fortnightly collections for over 2 years, we seperated the rubish into cans/bottles/cardbaord and paper it's supprising how you get used to it. We have had no problem and would actually like to see a plastic bottle collection as well. People should give it a go before complaining about it.

[James Rock - Birmingham Jul 16, 2007 1:13:51 PM]

If councils want to implement 2 week collections they should provide the proper receptical to contain each type of waste, of sufficient size to contain 2 weeks rubbish. In Birmingham we still have polythene bags and these are very easilly split, which rodents, foxes, and other animals including cats and squirrels tear apart to get at food remnants, etc.

Further, if councils want people to place rubbish on the roadside they should also provide screened off local rubbish collection zones (as they do overseas e.g. France) so that unsightly, smelly and unhygenic waste is not left to block public pavements.

I believe councils need to provide joined-up and long-term thinking to deploy the correct resources for this growing problem... unfortunately thats not the case in Birmingham yet!

[melissa, notts Jul 16, 2007 12:59:25 PM]

We have 4 children and have fortnighlt bin collections. in the summer months, the bin is infested with maggots. i cannot let the children outside as its a health risk. the council just tell us to recycle. i dont recycle as the little boxes given for recycling would be full in a day. we should approach the supermarkets to stop the crazy labelling and packaging. this would then cut down on everbody rubbish. my kids dont even look at the crazy cartoon character on the yoghurt cadboard packaging. its just binned!!
we need to look at the cause and tackle that!!

[Jodie -Stirlingshire Jul 16, 2007 12:49:41 PM]

We have been recycling for over a year now, I we are still trying to get used to it, it's getting better and better each month. I think they should recycle cradboard and plastics - as this takes up much of the green bin, which is for 'normal waste'
It will take time for it all to fall into place and for people to get into routine, but for those are saying no to recycling, thats just shamefull. It takes up no real extra time in your day and is helping the environment.......do they never think of how life is going to be for their grandchildren and great-grandchildren? I think not.

[Kenny McAulay, Letham, Angus. Jul 16, 2007 12:36:31 PM]

I've just finished my time in the Forces and have come home, I can't believe peoples attitude to recycling. There are places that no doubt still need weekly collections and that should be done without argument. We have been on fortnightly collections for ages in this area and it works for most, where people have more rubbish than others we fill up half empty bins of neighbours. The council recycling programme is flawed but people need to learn to be less lazy and stop expecting others to do everything for them. Councils need to work better with specialist in waste management and find ways of increasing the ammount of materials recycled and not think of cost only. We need to get through to people that our legacy to our grand children will be more about what we failed to do than what we should actually have done.

[Steve In Germany Jul 16, 2007 12:05:32 PM]

I am a member of British Forces and live in Germany. We sort our waste into:

Paper
Recyclable
Household waste
Glass
Old Clothes
Old Shoes
Food

Our food bin is emptied fortnightly, and the remainder of our bins are emptied once a month. No, they don't smell brilliant but i try to avoid keeping my head in there for any length of time (i would regardless of how often they are emptied). We don't have problems with animals unless people don't close the bin lid properly, and a standard bin is enough to last the month, if we recycle properly. This less frequent collection not only encourages recycling but also cuts down on harmful emmisions from the bin lorries as well. People in England need to stop complaining and start thinking of others. And YES i do pay council tax like evryone else.

[Caroline Taylor, Wiltshire Jul 16, 2007 11:11:43 AM]

I try and recycle what i can but in our area they don't take cardboard or plastics so all that goes in our black bin, we get one small recycling box for glass, tins, foil, textiles and paper but speaking to my local MP about it they've said that the cost to recycle plastics is too high and not worthwhile but surely they can provide more of those recycling skips to put plastic and cardboard in rather than getting people to go their local Household recycling centre to dump them. Some people don't drive and in some cases it's not an economical way of doing it.

I've lived in Germany and over there they recycle everything. All waste is separated and i found it very easy to recycle even though it meant more bins but you don't mind that as long as you're provided with the necessary stuff to do it. We had a black bin for household waste, blue for cardboard and paper, brown for food scraps, crate for bottles and each colour separated via different colour crates, yellow bags for plastics. The problem seems to be that councils have no consistency and they all provide different levels of recycling rather than all doing the same.

The two weekly collection is not adequate in this area certainly. After a week even with the mild weather we've had my bin smells foul and my bin is full after the first week in most cases due to the council not providing more recycling facilities. I wish they'd stop harping on about it, if they want us to recycle then provide us with bins and stop making excuses to not recycle certain things. You're either concerned about recycling or your not so councils get your act together.

Caroline

[Lehlia McBeth -Sale, Cheshire Jul 16, 2007 11:11:36 AM]

I'm from Canada and have been very frustrated here with the lack of recycling. The reports I've seen have shown officials telling people to double wrap their rubbish so it won't smell or attract animals. How is double wrapping helping to recycle? I can't believe how little we can actually recycle over here. Plastics have to be taken to a recycling station (by car!) and when I looked into it, it would appear this is because the government funds boroughs by the weight they recycle, plastics are bulky and light so not worth their collection. I also can't believe the items excluded from recycling. I know from experience that more can be recycled and it's a matter of funding and fast tracking the facilities. The only items I had to toss in Canada were sanitary items like nappies, cat box filler, etc. or items that were not identifiable as plastic, paper, metal, etc. Organic matter was collected and turned into compost which was given back to us for a small fee for use in our gardens. Give the people the options and I think you'll see the difference! I hear people say they run out of space for their recycling so end up adding it to their rubbish. Stop pretending it's the public not trying and get the government to make the difference that will really count!