Food bin not being emptied

[staplemeg]

Our small food bin has gone uncollected the last few weeks. Has this been happening to anyone else? We're on Barry Road.

[EPB]

Yes, on NX

[Clutterqueen]

Silly question, but do you leave the food bin in sight of the refuse collectors?

[Ruffler]

Ours often doesn?t get collected if left on the ground next to the bigger bins. We?ve now taken to putting it on top of the brown bin on collection day.

[vic.ham]

yes this happened to us. I was informed that there are new/temp crew members who are not used to the rounds so we must make sure our bins are in plain sight i.e outside the gate, on the wall, on top of your other bins.Thankfully Ours was collected this week.

[KidKruger]

ha ha, like collecting refuse is complicated. And if in doubt, they just leave it there, full ?!

Good excuse from the council though !

[Mabaker]

Our food bin has just been collected and dumped on the road.Our garden waste hasn't been picked up at all. This isn't the first time that our bins have been left. We are at Donkey Alley.

[BigED]

if it's any consolation, food waste bins went uncollected in our street in Forest Hill last week. The bin now seems to be a fly factory. Which is nice.

[kiera]

I watched them emptying the food bins last week - they tipped them straight in with the garden waste in people's brown bins.

[Penguin68]

I watched them emptying the food bins last week - they tipped them straight in with the garden waste in people's brown bins.

I've said this before, but Veolia in S London doesn't have anaerobic digesters locally suitable for kitchen waste, so its composted with garden waste (as you might do yourself). Southwark knew that, but had the opportunity to charge for garden waste and took it. There's no point in Veolia separating the collection when both types of waste are treated the same. Anaerobic digesters (which produce saleable methane) are ideal for kitchen waste, less so for garden waste. Although plant material can be treated in this way it is normally green material (from farms) and not woody material (more typical of our garden waste, which has comparatively little grass cuttings). Veolia is acting entirely sensibly, as there is no merit for it to separate organic waste. I believe there are plans to introduce appropriate digesters, over time, but until they do, it makes no economic sense for them to separate waste (indeed it adds cost). You are collecting it separately as part of a Southwark money making scheme. It has no additional recycling merit.

[mayo]

It's frustrating because I asked southwark if I could just continue putting food waste into my garden waste bin which I am paying for. I didn't want yet another plastic bin and this is what we all did prior to the paid scheme. They told me no and that it wouldn't be collected if they saw it had food waste in! So I now have 2 separate bins which get emptied into the same recyling truck. It's madness - surely they only needed to provide food bins for people who weren't paying for garden waste, those of us who do pay could continue to use the one bin. Easier for collection too as one bin to empty rather than 2 at each property!

[monkeyspanner]

Anyone remember who's the person to email at the council about refuse collections? We are about to ask for a third food waste bin this year as the bin men keep tossing them back into the garden and breaking them.

[Effra]

We were told by the bin men that the small brown bin/container was to be used as a temporary bin within the house and that it should be tipped into the big brown bin just prior to the bin men doing the weekly collections.

Makes sense as it saves them handling two bins at every location.

[Froglander]

I hope some councillors are reading this.

[mayo]

Effra Wrote:

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

> We were told by the bin men that the small brown

> bin/container was to be used as a temporary bin

> within the house and that it should be tipped into

> the big brown bin just prior to the bin men doing

> the weekly collections.

>

> Makes sense as it saves them handling two bins at

> every location.

Interesting - as this is exact opposite of what council told me! Makes more sense this way but I was told this was absolutely not allowed!

[nxjen]

There are of course three council supplied brown bins - the smallest for use indoors which gets tipped into the next size up outside and then the large one which is for garden waste. Perhaps the bin man Effra spoke to was referring to the two smallest ones. Also, spare a thought for the bin men during the weeks, there are many, when there is no garden waste and they have to dive in to the bottom to collect the bags containing food waste should they be left in the largest size.

[Froglander]

Effra Wrote:

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

> We were told by the bin men that the small brown

> bin/container was to be used as a temporary bin

> within the house and that it should be tipped into

> the big brown bin just prior to the bin men doing

> the weekly collections.

>

> Makes sense as it saves them handling two bins at

> every location.

Do you mean the very large garden waste bins?

[Penguin68]

Interesting - as this is exact opposite of what council told me! Makes more sense this way but I was told this was absolutely not allowed!

To be charitable, either your council adviser did not know that Veolia could/ would not process kitchen and garden waste separately in SE London, or he is following a script designed to imbue good habits for when it is enabled (if ever).

To be uncharitable, the council doesn't want people questioning their money raising actions so is simply pretending that the two are processed separately.

Take your choice.

[gumshoe]

Yep also happening here on LL near the library - huge amounts of increasingly mouldy food waste. Surely not advisable in most circumstances but especially not with the explosion of rats that ED has seen recently.

[Lollipop]

There is a link on the Southwark website to report missed collections - I have used it (once only) and they came the next day to pick it up.

https://www.southwark.gov.uk/bins-and-recycling/general-household-waste/report-a-missed-collection

you can also email your local councillor to complain. https://www.southwark.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/councillors-and-mps/your-councillors

[seenbeen]

The bin men are in Crystal Palace Road now. I just saw a binman empty a food waste bin into the same bin that he put the garden waste. What is going on?

[Penguin68]

I just saw a binman empty a food waste bin into the same bin that he put the garden waste. What is going on?

12 posts above this I describe exactly what's going on. Veolia process food and garden waste together. Southwark required the separation to 'justify' charging for garden waste collection.

[DulwichFox]

Penguin68 Wrote:

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

> I just saw a binman empty a food waste bin into

> the same bin that he put the garden waste. What is

> going on?

>

> 12 posts above this I describe exactly what's

> going on. Veolia process food and garden waste

> together. Southwark required the separation to

> 'justify' charging for garden waste collection.

The Food waste and Garden waste go in the same Dust Cart so if someone has Garden Waste and Food Waste

then it makes sense to put the Food Waste in the brown bin and tip it in the Cart.

Foxy

[DulwichFox]

This is how Food and Garden waste are processed into compost.

This video is from Islington. I suspect Southwark has a similar processing plant.

Foxy

[Penguin68]

And this (ironically from Veolia, about their plant in Yorkshire) describes the anaerobic digestion system https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRcfO07NIWg

Without such a system, it makes no sense to separate kitchen from garden waste (except financially, for Southwark, apparently).