Recycling household scraps
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Primrose
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I read today that the Government now plans to introduce the compulsory recycling of kitchen waste as part of its Recycling campaign. I hope some miserable-minded local official isn't going to come round and impose fines on all of us who have been doing this for years with our compost heaps just because a "Kitchen Waste Recycling Caddy" isn't placed at the kerbside with all our other rubbish !
I'd say it's a distinct possibility. They need as much recycled waste as possible.
Whilst I wholeheartedly applaud the attempts of councils to increase their recycling, I can't help feeling they're "cooking the books" somewhat in order to improve their own recycling-vs-landfill figures.
They can do this by increasing the amount of recycled waste collected, and hoping the landfill waste collections don't increase too much. Just by increasing the recycling collections, they automatically increase their percentage of recyclables against landfill, without actually reducing the amount of landfill waste in absolute figures - Proof of this, is their pleasure in collecting the lawn clippings and hedge trimmings which historically we all used to burn on bonfire night, or compost at home, and so never made it into the normal dustbin collections anyway. Yet now, they're used as a percentage of recycled waste against landfil waste.
I can see the day when we are almost "forced" to put out kitchen waste, simply because the council needs it for their figures. Being in a fully vegetarian household who grow most of their own veg, we create a LOT of kitchen scraps, and compost all of it at home.....so robbing the council of vital percentage points! Will they be prepared to rob me of my own kitchen waste? Surely that would be defeating the whole object. They would need to find a different method to "incentivise" the population to put out kitchen waste. Maybe they'll have compost inspectors to come around asking politely why a household puts out no kitchen waste, only to marvel at the 4 working compost bins in the back garden, and so grant an official pardon.....
Having said that, councils now seem to be getting targets in absolute figures for landfill, rather than percentages, therefore, it matters less how much recycling is done, and more of how few million tonnes of landfill waste is disposed of. This is surely the way to go...Providing a method can be found of still encouraging households to keep on recycling...Again I fear this may be in the form of penalising those who aren't seen to be entering the recycling spirit.
I must stress I'm all FOR council recycling collections, and I wish them every success in persuading the general population to do what many of us have been doing for years anyway. I'm just sceptical of "targets", "frameworks", "access", and "incentivising" schemes. I guess they've got to start somewhere though.....
Whilst I wholeheartedly applaud the attempts of councils to increase their recycling, I can't help feeling they're "cooking the books" somewhat in order to improve their own recycling-vs-landfill figures.
They can do this by increasing the amount of recycled waste collected, and hoping the landfill waste collections don't increase too much. Just by increasing the recycling collections, they automatically increase their percentage of recyclables against landfill, without actually reducing the amount of landfill waste in absolute figures - Proof of this, is their pleasure in collecting the lawn clippings and hedge trimmings which historically we all used to burn on bonfire night, or compost at home, and so never made it into the normal dustbin collections anyway. Yet now, they're used as a percentage of recycled waste against landfil waste.
I can see the day when we are almost "forced" to put out kitchen waste, simply because the council needs it for their figures. Being in a fully vegetarian household who grow most of their own veg, we create a LOT of kitchen scraps, and compost all of it at home.....so robbing the council of vital percentage points! Will they be prepared to rob me of my own kitchen waste? Surely that would be defeating the whole object. They would need to find a different method to "incentivise" the population to put out kitchen waste. Maybe they'll have compost inspectors to come around asking politely why a household puts out no kitchen waste, only to marvel at the 4 working compost bins in the back garden, and so grant an official pardon.....
Having said that, councils now seem to be getting targets in absolute figures for landfill, rather than percentages, therefore, it matters less how much recycling is done, and more of how few million tonnes of landfill waste is disposed of. This is surely the way to go...Providing a method can be found of still encouraging households to keep on recycling...Again I fear this may be in the form of penalising those who aren't seen to be entering the recycling spirit.
I must stress I'm all FOR council recycling collections, and I wish them every success in persuading the general population to do what many of us have been doing for years anyway. I'm just sceptical of "targets", "frameworks", "access", and "incentivising" schemes. I guess they've got to start somewhere though.....
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Primrose
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I entirely agree with you. As a country we DO need to recycle more, and if we weren't so materialistic as a nation we wouldn't be buying a lot of new consumer items to replace perfectly good ones which still have plenty of wear/use in them, even if they arn't the latest model/fashion.
But there's no point in trying to fiddle the recycling figures and targets and alienating a large percentage of people who are already doing everything they possibly can to recycle and avoid waste.
But there's no point in trying to fiddle the recycling figures and targets and alienating a large percentage of people who are already doing everything they possibly can to recycle and avoid waste.
I was quite confused by this since our local council will not (at the moment?) accept vegetable peelings in the garden recycling bin/bag!
I've never had to use one of these bags before (oh the luxury of a large compost heap), but a new house needing lots of attention and a brand new wormery (with some particularly picky worms in) means I need to find a home for vegetable peelings etc.
Oh well,had better move 'build a compost heap' up the list of tasks!!!
Jacquie
I've never had to use one of these bags before (oh the luxury of a large compost heap), but a new house needing lots of attention and a brand new wormery (with some particularly picky worms in) means I need to find a home for vegetable peelings etc.
Oh well,had better move 'build a compost heap' up the list of tasks!!!
Jacquie
i think nearly everyone is going to end up confused,
here in somerset the garden waste composting has gone so well that periodically the council are giving the compost away, last year it was by the bag to the public at various places, apparently this spring they were letting farmers have upto 10 trailer loads per day from some depots, so the council were trucking it to their recycling centres , tipping it from the lorries and then reloading it into trailers.
they keep spouting about charging by the kilo for general waste collected, but unless they provide a new set of identified wheelie bins with individual locks which only the bin men can open there is nothing to stop anybody putting rubbish in another bin down the road,
here in somerset the garden waste composting has gone so well that periodically the council are giving the compost away, last year it was by the bag to the public at various places, apparently this spring they were letting farmers have upto 10 trailer loads per day from some depots, so the council were trucking it to their recycling centres , tipping it from the lorries and then reloading it into trailers.
they keep spouting about charging by the kilo for general waste collected, but unless they provide a new set of identified wheelie bins with individual locks which only the bin men can open there is nothing to stop anybody putting rubbish in another bin down the road,
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peter
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Trouble is to do this properly one needs a bit of room and a more old-fashioned attitude to country smells.
Once one has thes one can purchase a piglet.
Then wait for all the regulations and officials.
One time that was the recognised country way to recycle all the kitchen waste and piggie didn't go to market, butcher came to call instead. Now that cuts down food miles.
Once one has thes one can purchase a piglet.
Then wait for all the regulations and officials.
One time that was the recognised country way to recycle all the kitchen waste and piggie didn't go to market, butcher came to call instead. Now that cuts down food miles.
Do not put off thanking people when they have helped you, as they may not be there to thank later.
I support http://www.hearingdogs.org.uk/
I support http://www.hearingdogs.org.uk/
I wrote to my Council a few months ago and suggested they might consider issueing Bokashi type units. Got a negative responsive, based on cost, most expensive, despite being a high tax area and comparative unit costs being low....
Assume we have to buy our our units and utilise waste products.
Assume we have to buy our our units and utilise waste products.
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madasafish
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What is compostable household waste?
Our wheelie bin for that is always empty.
Maybe it's my 5 compost heaps?
I can see all sorts of fun ahead:-)
Our wheelie bin for that is always empty.
Maybe it's my 5 compost heaps?
I can see all sorts of fun ahead:-)
1. Deliver a form to all households which we fill in to say if we compost our own etc.
2. Process them all.
3. Send inspectors round to check if the 'home composters' really have compost heaps. Especially good for those whose allotments are a car drive away. Maybe you could give the allotment address and instructions for finding your plot!
4. Process that information.
5. Issue a list to the recycling lorry driver indicating whether households are certified composters. Maybe we could have a sticker on the front door. A bit like the plague signs.
It should help the unemployment figures.
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Granny
2. Process them all.
3. Send inspectors round to check if the 'home composters' really have compost heaps. Especially good for those whose allotments are a car drive away. Maybe you could give the allotment address and instructions for finding your plot!
4. Process that information.
5. Issue a list to the recycling lorry driver indicating whether households are certified composters. Maybe we could have a sticker on the front door. A bit like the plague signs.
It should help the unemployment figures.
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Granny
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madasafish
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Perhaps they could send the Lorries to our MPs' residences at the Palace of Westminster. They produce so much carp that the lorry will never be empty..
Last year my local council DMBC bless em started with the fortnightly bin scheme which has not worked. Now when all this started there was a big push towards recycling kitchen waste through FOC Bokashi bins. If the council had done their homework they would have realised they were wasting time and money because in my neck of the woods nearly 50% of the households are rented properties with a highly transient residency. These people are not interested in any form of recycling hence the alleyways are awash with litter and every other form of waste tipped and dumped on green or black bin day.The Bokashi bins are nowhere to be seen and are probably plantpots or hooch stills now. Personally i have collected a few which have been dumped and are now stewing away nicely now making nettle fertilizer.The other few have been handed around freinds and family with strict instruction as to what they can and cannot put in them and then returned to me for composting on the lotty.
I ordered two compost bins from our local council in March and I'm still waiting for them. Thankfully with a thriving wormery and two lots of bokashi bins we create very little landfill waste. We Freecycle unwanted serviceable consumer items, take old clothes and shoes to the clothes bank, and decent unwanted stuff to the charity shops.
I know I'm going to sound patronising but it's a lot about education isn't it? But this doesn't address the issue of those who don't want to be educated. (My sister, for one) I find it morally indefensible that her attitude is "I pay my council tax, why should I bother?" (except she doesn't; the rest of us tax payers cough up for it instead)
There is a salient point in amongst my diatribe: how successful can a policy hope to be when there are more sticks than carrots? The local council here charges over a fiver for a small bag of the compost they produce from our green waste, which seems very expensive to me.
Perhaps it might be more popular if there was less of the "you'll get fined if you don't comply", and more of the "we'll make it worth your while if you do"
How about a scheme where you can qualify for a free bag of compost/compost bin, bokashi bran if you meet certain criteria - like creating less than x amount of landfill waste. I've not thought this through, it's all off the top of my head just sitting here, but I'm sure that encouragement works better than threats of financial sanctions.
I know I'm going to sound patronising but it's a lot about education isn't it? But this doesn't address the issue of those who don't want to be educated. (My sister, for one) I find it morally indefensible that her attitude is "I pay my council tax, why should I bother?" (except she doesn't; the rest of us tax payers cough up for it instead)
There is a salient point in amongst my diatribe: how successful can a policy hope to be when there are more sticks than carrots? The local council here charges over a fiver for a small bag of the compost they produce from our green waste, which seems very expensive to me.
Perhaps it might be more popular if there was less of the "you'll get fined if you don't comply", and more of the "we'll make it worth your while if you do"
How about a scheme where you can qualify for a free bag of compost/compost bin, bokashi bran if you meet certain criteria - like creating less than x amount of landfill waste. I've not thought this through, it's all off the top of my head just sitting here, but I'm sure that encouragement works better than threats of financial sanctions.
Where do you go to my lovely, when you're alone in your shed...
Hi Lynne,
Oh how I agree with your comments. For years here people with a decent car have used a small trailer to transport things to the recycling depot and now that they have finally got people to take their unwanted stuff to recycle the Council have banned trailers and only articles brought in the boot of a car permitted. I now notice between here and Hereford a journey of 25 miles umpteen fridges and washing machine and assorted black binbags on the sides by laybys. They have a collection service for large articles which people have to pay per item and as your sister says 'well I pay my council Tax so the service should be free.' End of a clean countryside after several years of virtually no dumping.
There is a Green Lane close-by which is a bridle path which has been blocked by about a thousand car tyres and since the council gave up having anything with green lanes they are not actually owned by anybody as there is no title deeds and the council are trying to make the person who's property is next to the green lane to clean them away and have used threatening language. "This will now be put before our legal representatives and you will hear in due course." The pillock that said that, didn't know he was addressing a, quite eminent, QC! Am awaiting the sparks to fly!
JB.
Oh how I agree with your comments. For years here people with a decent car have used a small trailer to transport things to the recycling depot and now that they have finally got people to take their unwanted stuff to recycle the Council have banned trailers and only articles brought in the boot of a car permitted. I now notice between here and Hereford a journey of 25 miles umpteen fridges and washing machine and assorted black binbags on the sides by laybys. They have a collection service for large articles which people have to pay per item and as your sister says 'well I pay my council Tax so the service should be free.' End of a clean countryside after several years of virtually no dumping.
There is a Green Lane close-by which is a bridle path which has been blocked by about a thousand car tyres and since the council gave up having anything with green lanes they are not actually owned by anybody as there is no title deeds and the council are trying to make the person who's property is next to the green lane to clean them away and have used threatening language. "This will now be put before our legal representatives and you will hear in due course." The pillock that said that, didn't know he was addressing a, quite eminent, QC! Am awaiting the sparks to fly!
JB.
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madasafish
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I find it difficult to moderate my langauge on these issues.
The Gov't is worried about greenhouse gases _ Global Warming - and Methane is a major one.
Methane comes - apart from cows etc.. rotting vegetation and food waste.
So we are going to have fortnightly waste collections....
You could not make it up... (and ostensibly it is done to reduce Global Warming!)
Frankly I think we should compost a few Ministers....that's about all they are good for...
The Gov't is worried about greenhouse gases _ Global Warming - and Methane is a major one.
Methane comes - apart from cows etc.. rotting vegetation and food waste.
So we are going to have fortnightly waste collections....
You could not make it up... (and ostensibly it is done to reduce Global Warming!)
Frankly I think we should compost a few Ministers....that's about all they are good for...