Fortnightly rubbish collections planned

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Permalink Reply by Chris brock on April 15, 2011 at 4:34

Hugh, out of interest, when you say it will not change for people living in flats, do you mean just purpose-built flats or also those living in conversions, of which there are quite a few on the ladder?

also do we get a choice over whether or not we have wheelie bins for recycling?

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Permalink Reply by JulieB on April 15, 2011 at 7:21

Great, my tiny recycling bin is always over flowing 2 days before they collect, while our wheelie bin is only ever half full.

Our tiny front garden will look pretty bad with 2 full size wheelie bins though.

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Permalink Reply by Liz on April 15, 2011 at 8:54

Will, I like a bit of class war as much as anyone but, in defence of Nilgun Canver , the cabinet member responsible for neighbourhoods, she doesn't live in Muswell Hill, she is a Ladder resident and as aware as the rest of us about the problems of HMOs, dumping and small gardens, unless she walks around with her eyes shut which I'm sure would be a risky thing to do given the dog poo on the pavements...

I'm sure we won't be seeing this happening for quite a while on our side of the borough. This will be something that has been worked out with Veolia, not scribbled on a beer mat, and will be in line with EU targets to reduce landfill.

This was her response to my inquiry:

"... in the first year there will be a comprehensive engagement programme. No change. Starting from Jan 2012 fortnightly residual waste collection will be phased in across Haringey starting from where there is the highest recycling rate namely from Muswell Hill. This method of collection will only apply to street properties on residential roads. Rubbish from estates and main roads will still be collected as it is currently programmed. There won’t be any change there.

 

All recyclables will continue to be collected every week. 240lt recycle bins will be introduced where physically possible. We aim to achieve 50% recycling rate by 2015.No fines associated, (my italics) on the contrary very much carrot approach has been adopted and there will be incentives introduced in the first year and on. These and the village approach adopted in street sweeping will contribute to our target of reducing carbon emissions by 40% by 2015."

I completely support this proposal provided the groundwork is done and the problems are acknowledged. Personally, even with two small children, I have one small bag of rubbish for the main bin, two full recycling boxes and a couple of bags of food waste. Other European countries where flats are more common are capable of running comprehensive programmes of recycling, Britain really needs to catch up and stop making excuses, hiding behind Eric Pickles (mind you a lot of us could hide behind Eric Pickles). We also need to tackle the problems of over packaging, bring in deposits on glass and provide many more recycling bins in public places but that's a discussion for another day/thread.

 

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Permalink Reply by Liz on April 15, 2011 at 9:16

I believe, although as the community volunteer programme has been quietly dropped which is due to the cuts I'm not sure, that the new contractors have every intention of tying it all in with the fly tipping and litter problem as they have claimed some success in tackling these problems in other areas. At present, they seem very open to dialogue with interested parties, so let's give them a chance...

and Will, remember we are talking about a privatised service here, all cleaning and recycling has passed out of the hands of the council and to a private company which by your avowed philosophy should deliver a better service, for less cost to the taxpayer and with greater efficiency. I'm sure the plan passed across the tables of Kober and Goldberg, I would be amazed if it didn't, it was also voted on in council meetings, but it should be one you approve of since it contracts out to private enterprise.

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Permalink Reply by John D on April 15, 2011 at 9:27

It may be a privatised service, but surely the Council contract with Veolia specified what level of service, including frequency of collection, should be provided ?

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Permalink Reply by Liz on April 15, 2011 at 9:35

I imagine so but this won't have been conjured up out of thin air. It will have been worked out with the company in line with the targets Nilgun outlined above re recycling rates and carbon emissions. Landfill is expensive, destructive to the environment and unsustainable. Giving people stronger incentives to recycle and reduce their waste is to be supported and I'm afraid weekly collections do little in that department.

Will, Enterprise didn't handle recycling it was the council's in house service. The service is now totally privatised, not partially. This could and should provide more joined up thinking about recycling, refuse and litter (like timing street cleaning to happen straight after refuse and recycling collections in a road to get rid of the rubbish dropped during the process)

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Permalink Reply by Chris brock on April 15, 2011 at 13:10

Thanks, Liz, for the reply. I take it that even converted flats on ladder roads count as "street properties on residential roads" as stated above. I don' really have a problem with fortnightly collection, although with a young family upstairs it may be challenging, it's that the way our front garden is laid out I only have room for one wheelie bin (wet waste) and two boxes (recycling). I don't particularly want to spend hundreds of pounds getting my garden redone, nor do I want a wheelie bin stuck in front of my front window. Do we get a choice in any of this?

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Permalink Reply by tigha on April 15, 2011 at 8:57

I have to say this will suit us fine, as I live downstairs alone and both myself and the couple upstairs have ourrecycling bin stuffed full by end of week but our wheelie bin is almost empty-find you can recycle most things these days, once you wash containers out etc-its great

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Permalink Reply by KP on April 16, 2011 at 14:39

I think this is an insane idea. More rubbish will be dumped in the area encouraging more vermin. Once a week is a necessity when so many people are living here! I dread to think of how much filthier Harringay will become from next year!

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Permalink Reply by pamish on April 16, 2011 at 16:24

Vermin are only interested in food waste, which belongs in the food recycling bins. How difficult is that?

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Permalink Reply by Kris on April 16, 2011 at 17:04

I think fortnightly is absolutely sufficient, even with 2 smallish children our wheelie bin is always only filled with 1 or 2 little bags. And 1 bigger bin for recycling would be grand, because our 2 little green boxes are always overflowing with bags on the sides. Doesn´t make for a pretty front garden look either. And yes, vermin shouldn´t get into the big wheelie bins where the bones should go in a properly closed bag.

Weekly collections won´t encourage people to recycle more, and this is what it all should be about...

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Permalink Reply by Neville Collins on April 16, 2011 at 18:29

The plans for fortnightly refuse collections are unacceptable. The council currently finds it a struggle just to maintain a weekly collection round. It would be far better for them to increase the frequency of collections, particularly in industrial and main shopping areas, give out information on what items can and cannot be recycled, and on a different point, change the street-cleaning schedules to three times a week.

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