By now you’ve probably received your new wheelie bins for recycling and landfill. I now have 5 on my property including two for garden waste. The new bins are to be used from September. The big blue-lidded one is for paper and cardboard, the smallest one for landfill and your old landfill bin is to be used for cans, bottles and plastics. The food waste collections remain as before. The aim is to boost recycling from 38% to 50% and reduce landfill.
Please read the leaflet delivered with your new bins. Apart from showing your new collection days, it lists what can and can’t be recycled. Non-recyclables include plastic bags and film, nappies, polystyrene and food-soiled cardboard, such as pizza boxes. Shredded paper too, is not accepted. New to the weekly recycling collections is household batteries, put them out in an untied plastic bag. On the back of the leaflet (Advisory notices) it says failure to comply with the correct separation of waste could mean it’s not collected.
The advantage of the wheelie bins is of course their ‘wheelability.’ This negates the need to carry heavy boxes and avoids the unpleasant trickle of liquid that runs down the carrier’s leg. Or is that just me? Perhaps the main advantage is the end of unintended litter, either from overfilled boxes, or careless emptying. I’m sure much of our plastic litter comes from spillage, or it being blown out by the wind.
The downside of the new wheelie bins is the space needed to ‘park’ them. If you’re tight for space or live in a terrace with no side access, they’re going to be an eyesore at best, and could be a hazard on pavements. The Council offer no advice on this as far as I can see.
Assisted collections will continue as before, but if you have problems moving bins contact the council or go to croydon.gov.uk/recycling. If you have white goods or bulky items for collection the Council now offers a limited number of free collections. See Free Waste & White Goods Collections article.
The big question is ‘What are we going to do with the old recycling boxes?’
Croydon Council will recycle them, but it’s the resident’s responsibility to take them to the recycling centre. The council have made no provision for their collection from residents. They instead suggest they are used as storage boxes. Other uses could be for growing plants such as tomatoes or potatoes.
At the recent Kendra committee meeting it was decided to ask the council for help, especially as some residents cannot drive and, at best, would have to take them on the bus.
Maybe the scouts or other voluntary group could take them away for recycling for a nominal fee, therefore boosting their funds? Or is there a business which would appreciate a few hundred storage boxes?
If you have a bright idea about their use, or how they could be disposed of constructively, I’d like to know. Thanks, Paul litter@kenleyra.org.uk