heavy handed recycling policy

[Bayleaf]

Is it just me, or is this campaign by the council to encourage recycling a touch over the top?

First I was amazed at the leaflet that came round last month with the "We can do this the easy way" or "We can do this the hard way" message.

And THEN at 08.37 this morning a leaflet was put through my door which said " We notice your blue bag/box was not presented today" followed by other stuff and ending with "you may be fined ?75 if you do not recycle".

This was delivered, hours before the recycling collection people came. I was incensed. I am an avid recycler and composter. In fact the person who delivered this note this morning had had to move the brown bin in order to get past it to get to the door.

I rang the council and left a resonably polite message saying that I really feel that the tone of their recycling leaflets is not good.

Thanks for the opportunity to rant.

Angry of East Dulwich

[chuff]

We had the same thing but with a letter addressed to us personally saying they had checked us on several occasions and found us not to be recycling. We always recycle, in fact only the week before I had hounded southwark enviromental services because they had missed our collection. I can only think that in our case that they're not looking by our side gate where we have been told to leave the refuse/recycling. we've also tried to call the helpline number to complain but have been told that they are experiencing high call volumes and will call back before the 24th September.

I was hopping mad about it yesterday but have chilled out somewhat today...

chuff

[ChavWivaLawDegree]

You can always get your own back by demanding a collection service to recycle the old highly toxic, mercury filled, eco-bulbs that they give away to everyone. They don't seem to be aware of how toxic these bulbs are how they should be disposed of.

[timtim]

We also got a note through the door, BEFORE they had come to collect our recyling.

[SimonM]

>>And THEN at 08.37 this morning a leaflet was put through my door which said " We notice your blue bag/box was not >>presented today" followed by other stuff and ending with "you may be fined ?75 if you do not recycle".

>>This was delivered, hours before the recycling collection people came. I was incensed. I am an avid recycler and >>composter. In <<

Then their leaflet was unquestionably a libel and perhaps you should write back pointing this out, and promising to pass on any similarly libellous literature to your solicitor....The leaflet was not inside a window envelope I suppose? :))

[ratty]

Is everyone getting this? I've not had anyting yet (although I do recycle and leave my box full of beer cans and wine bottles outside the house at all times).

Have they the power to fine? Is a bye law passed stating that we must recycle?

What if I do all my recycling at Sainsburys which is next door to my house? How do they know this?

Sounds like a load of BS to me!

[macroban]

I live frugally and produce very little rubbish for collection.

Will I have to pay a ?75 fine from my pension because I don't consume enough?

[Ant]

Yes. Start buying stuff, you filthy non-consumerist. ;)

I haven't had any of these leaflets yet, and like ratty our recycling also lives outside in full view. If that is the criteria* they're using when they decide weather or not to leaflet a house then it's a pretty shabby one.

* criterion? can I be bothered to properly singularise? hmm...

[JoeChuff]

there's nothing on the southwark website about compulsory recycling. I'm not opposed to it in principle, but they need to tell us exactly what is required of us!

[Siduhe]

ratty Wrote:

------------------------------------------------------->

> Have they the power to fine? Is a bye law passed

> stating that we must recycle?

Short answer is yes, they can require that you recycle. However, they can't fine you if you don't have any recycling to put out, or if you recycle it elsewhere.

The longer answer is that the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (as amended by the London Local Authorities Act 2007) gives local authorities the power to specify how people separate their waste, e.g. which bin it should be placed in as well as which days it will be collected. It also provides for fixed penalty charges if people breach certain provisions of the Act. One of the sections you can be fined for breaching is section 46 (thrillingly entitled "Receptacles for Household Waste").

Section 46 allows Southwark to require us to use separate containers for recyclable waste, subject to certain conditions such as the number of containers and requirements for separation of waste must be reasonable. If you breach this section, for example by mixing recyclable and non-recyclable waste, you could in theory be liable to a penalty charge. However, if you don't have any recycling to put out, or recycle elsewhere, the penalty charge certainly couldn't apply.

There has been huge amount of discussion about how Councils should use these powers. Councils say the threat of fines are essential to get through to those people who do no recyling at all. However, there are very limited guidelines as to how these powers should be applied, and a wide variation in practice between councils. See the various news stories about on the spot littering for a similar discussion.

I have no connection to Southwark Council by the way, but take a keen personal and professional interest in civil liberties, if I can put it like that. This is a good example of the type of regulation that simply didn't exist 10 years ago, where there is potential for summary conviction, no requirement for a common sense application and only limited grounds for appeal.

[DG]

New legislation comes in an the end of October which does basically enforce recycling, yes.

[Siduhe]

One thing I forgot to mention, in fairness to Southwark Council, is that part of the reason they may be being a bit heavy handed, is that their waste management strategy doesn't involve building a big old incinerator to treat waste, as a number of councils are.

The strategy only works, however, if Southwark hit fairly ambitious targets for recycling. If they were being a bit more relaxed about the recyling and going down the incinerator route, I suspect people would be just as aggravated for different reasons.

[char1ie]

SimonM Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> >>And THEN at 08.37 this morning a leaflet was put

> through my door which said " We notice your blue

> bag/box was not >>presented today" followed by

> other stuff and ending with "you may be fined ?75

> if you do not recycle".

>

> >>This was delivered, hours before the recycling

> collection people came. I was incensed. I am an

> avid recycler and >>composter. In

> Then their leaflet was unquestionably a libel and

> perhaps you should write back pointing this out,

> and promising to pass on any similarly libellous

> literature to your solicitor....The leaflet was

> not inside a window envelope I suppose? :))

Um, what?

Charlie

[ratty]

Are they gonna rummage through my rubbish to see if I recycle then? My wife is just about to pop a baby out so I would not envy them that job!

Anyway, I am a pretty good recycler - I'll just have to get better! :)

[Jeremy]

I live in a flat, and the front is basically right on the pavement. Bags and boxes go missing, people put loads of random crap in them... I think any sort of law would be totally unenforceable in these situations.

[EDrant]

Few weeks ago we have had our brown bin and our blue bag nicked. We are still waiting for the council to replace them. They were supposed to deliver them early last week but they haven't turned up yet.

So until they get replaced there is a bit of a dilemma as it seems the recycling collection people won't take things if they are not in the dedicated container -- should we be stop recycling until we get provided the right containers?

[EDrant]

Just for info, the new recycling facility is yet another PFI project (i.e. privatisation) which will probably turn out to be good for business but not so good for the general public.