On Sat, 12 Aug 06 20:11:09 GMT, (dmc) wrote:

In article , Andy Hall wrote:

In effect, the local authority has halved the service by reducing the
collection frequency. Have they halved the amount of money collected
that relates to this part of their service? I very much doubt it.

Down here (Folkestone) our collections went to biweekly for the landfill
waste and we were all given a box and a bag for recycling.

Around here we changed to wheelie bins about - oh, ten years ago. With
the previous system you weren't supposed to bin garden rubbish - lawn
clippings and so on. "Salvage" collection of separately gathered
newspapers went out decades ago. When wheelies came in you could
deposit (almost!) anything in them, including garden stuff.
Collections were still (as now) weekly. Smaller wheelie bins were
supplied to old folks' bungalows, mainly from the point of view of
manhandling by the folks themselves (previously the binmen would
collect the bin from the back garden if necessary!).
A few years ago the LA were criticised for lack of recycling, so a box
system was introduced for the deposit of paper, glass and tin cans;
collected every fortnight on the same day as the wheelie. Many people
didn't/don't use their box - loads of these have been squirrelled away
by builders etc for transporting rubble. These are emptied by a
private firm, as an agent for the LA.
More recently, the LA (still being nagged by the recycling police)
introduced an extra wheelie-bin for the deposit of garden refuse. Just
to confuse the issue, they call it a "Green-it" collection, using
brown wheelies, whereas the original wheelies are green in colour.
These are also emptied every fortnight (except in winter), on
alternate weeks to the recycling box. I think the "Green-it" bins are
only supplied to those who have gardens - terraced town houses don't
have much (if any) of a garden :-) There's still no problem putting
garden waste into the "normal" wheelie, which is just as well for me
when I have the occasional bash at the front and back lawns :-)

--
Frank Erskine
Sunderland