New bins delivered whats the green bin exactly for

[Thomas Micklewright]

got the brown big and a blue bin - great stuff - love the blue colour.

i already collected kicthen waste for the compost tip / brown bin, so not much change there, i just have a nice new brown bin now!

[DulwichFox]

James Barber Wrote:

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> IF you want to keep your blue boxes and bags you

> can. All the blue wheelie mixed up recycling and

> blue boxes and bag contents will all go in the

> truck and get mixed up and then be sorted at the

> new Old Kent Road waste centre.

>

> Segregated recyclnig is worth more but allowing

> mixed up recycling achieves a higher participation

> rate.

>

> If anyone find the standard 240 litre green

> wheelie bin oversized they can ask for a smaller

> 180 litre one (called 020 7525 2000 or email me)

> OR suggest to neighbours to share a bin and have

> the spare one removed.

> Same about sharing goes for any of your wheelie

> bins. Council don't do smaller sized brown wheelie

> bins (I've asked repeatedly).

>

> Hope that helps.

James

If neighbours share bins. who foots the bill when they start putting micro-chips in them. ?

Foxy

[damzel]

Loz Wrote:

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> Question: what do you do with, say, greasy pizza

> boxes. I imagine they are unsuitable for

> recycling as paper, but I suppose they could be

> composted.

I wondered the same - can anyone advise?

Edited to add:

I just found this on Soutwark site which answers the question

"Can I put shredded paper and cardboard in my brown bin?

The best way to recycle paper and cardboard is by using your blue bin. But, if it has been spoiled by food or liquids or you have a large quantity of shredded paper it can be placed in your brown bin because it's also compostable. Please don't use your brown bin to recycle glossy paper; this should go into your blue box. "

[Huggers]

I have a green bin and a blue bin, but no longer a front garden as they take the whole thing up.

[Google]

Thanks for all the info, strange how every ones council tax keeps going up, and were doing all the work, you would think they might reduce the tax band a bit, as they are making a lot of money out of the brown bins, i.e food and garden waste, i belive that is how they make compost.

[Google]

Gees, actually thinking this thread has had more hits than frank bruno, or are we talking "rubish" :O)

[mikeb]

I pity the poor guy who takes away my kid's nappies after two weeks. Might be ok in winter but I hope he's potty-trained by the summer

[Pugwash]

I like the idea of having blue, green and brown bins. In Sussex where family members live they have black bins with 'General waste' and 'recycled waste' written on them in white lettering. My step mother was most impressed with the variety of colours here in London as she felt that those residents with partial sight would be able to distinguish colours easier than lettering.

[jameson]

James - my elderly mother now has a brown bin, blue bin and a green bin plus a box - as she lives alone and hardly has any waste it is ludicrous - she has more bins than she can deal with - can the council come and take them away please?

[Manda]

So many bins in my front garden this morning. Did they not think I would need to leave my home at some point? Maybe I can get out the window.....

Just a thought but perhaps they should have discussed with me or any of the other tenants and find out what we actually need? We have our own composter and no one else in the building does the food waste thing or has a garden (I did write to them telling them this when they started the food waste pilot scheme).

I'll be the one "on hold" to Southwark's Refuse Dept for much of today then. Wouldn't mind but I seem to have to do this every 6 months or so, why this obsession with plastic wheelie bins? Blue boxes were working fine.

[ech]

Sue Wrote:

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> I have an extra box instead of a blue wheely bin,

> but why oh why are the new blue bins not a less

> obtrusive colour? Why could they not be a darker

> blue,eg the blue the existing boxes are, which

> would have blended in a little better with the

> surroundings?

>

> My road is now a hideous mass of bright blue bins,

> all clearly visible as there is nowhere else to

> put them except our miniscule front gardens.

>

> I'm all in favour of recycling, but not the vile

> effect it is having on the visual environment.

Totally agree with Sue. The new bins are such a blight, i'm guessing whoever chose the colour doesn't have to live round here!

[Siduhe]

According to the Southwark website, our first collection under the new system is scheduled for 4 October, but we've had no leaflet and no new bins anywhere on our street. Even assuming everything arrives this week, that's not much time to get used to everything. Fine for us I guess, as we've got all the info from here, but not everyone uses the EDF.

[cella]

You can have ours! Totally agree with the comments on the spectrum of colours now in the street and they are not visually attractive things - you think someone would have invented a new design by now that looks better but does the job. I have asked Southwark to take ours back as we just don't need it in addition to everything else. I guess its probably cheaper to provide everyone with a bin and then sort it out rather than consult individually.

[Lost Yorkshire Man]

Pickle Wrote:

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> Everything that doesn't go in either your blue

> recycling box or brown garden/food waste bin. We

> generally end up with about one small bag of waste

> a week to go in our green bin - non recyclable

> parts of food packaging (the cling film), cat food

> packets etc. as well as nappies if applicable in

> your household.

Our cat food packets are recyclable!

[Fuschia]

We are flats but have been left one blue bin and one smLl brown bin

Is that right?

The little blue boxes haven't been taken either

[Fly]

I'll be recycling my blue boxes in the blue bin. Does food waste go straight in the brown bin or in a bag first? Just thinking we might get rats / flies. ALso does used cat litter go in the brown bin? If it still goes in the green bin it will smell quite bad if collected every 2 weeks.

[Penguin68]

We were supplied with two packs of (small) biodegradeable plastic sacks to put in the (tiny) brown kitchen caddy and thence (I assume) into the large brown organic waste (I suppose it is now, not just garden) bin.

Thak god I don't have cats so a cat litter problem isn't one I have to address - but I assume it must be bio-degradeable? Or is the 'litter' mineral?

[Fly]

I phoned the council and they sai put it in the green bin and if needed request an additional green bin. I will have all he neighbourhood cats using my garden as a toilet with the smell! I am tempted to get rid of the blue bin now as I don't want 4 bins in my garden.

[Fly]

I have spoken to the council again. Apparently if we are disposing of nappies and cat litter and this takes up a large proportion of our general waste (as we're now meant to be recycling everything else) it is no longer classed as domestic general waste and becomes clinical or hazardous waste. This becomes an issue as it can't be disposed of normally. At the moment they usually only get this kind of waste from GPs etc and it has to be signed off by district nurses. They are looking into this but I imagine as other people in Southwark have babies / cats I'm not the only one with this problem. They can't expect us to have hazardous waste outside for 2 weeks at a time. They may need us to incorporate our recycling back into our general waste to make it general waste instead of hazardous waste but will get back to me about this.

[damzel]

Do we put snotty tissues in the compost bin?

[wee quinnie]

ianr Wrote:

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> I'm still giving thanks for the absence of the

> prohibition on window envelopes. Having a window

> wallah in to remove the transparent bits was a

> very unwelcome expense. Please, no-one tell me

> it's still there.

When did this happen? i have been faithfully tearing the windows out since...like, forever?!

[intexasatthe moment]

oh quinnie don't ask ,I've also abandoned the window tearing out with great shouts of glee .

Have no interest in delving into this and running the risk of someone telling us we have to go back to the dark days !

[Penguin68]

Another unintended consequence - many people recyling food containers will be washing them. rinsing them out - so now we are using clean water to wash refuse - good call eh? at a time when we see clean water as a diminishing resource (and if it's hot water then we are additionally wasting energy). To wash rubbish. Good grief.

[Cassius]

Wouldn't you just wash these things with the rest of the washing up or am I the only person without a dish washer?

[benmorg]

Penguin68 Wrote:

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> Another unintended consequence - many people

> recyling food containers will be washing them.

> rinsing them out - so now we are using clean water

> to wash refuse - good call eh? at a time when we

> see clean water as a diminishing resource (and if

> it's hot water then we are additionally wasting

> energy). To wash rubbish. Good grief.

Recyling plastic isn't necessarily a good idea. There are very few uses for recycled plastic besides making fleece jackets, and the idea that plastic is recyclable simply encourages people to buy more of it. Better in my opinion to avoid plastic packaging wherever possible than to buy it and waste time, money & energy recycling it into useless pellets.