WODC Cabinet member statement on the new rubbish collections

Sun 12 Nov 2017, 13:58

Hi Peter!
One couldn't make it up! Commiserations Peter.
I still have the grey bags, and haven't the faintest idea what to do with them save, perhaps, to opt for the "Charlbury default" of growing veg in them. Perhaps this is all part of a secret stratagem by WODC to get us all to grow our own veg - thereby freeing up agricultural land for development.

Sun 12 Nov 2017, 12:24

Unexpected as this event was Peter, congratulations, is it a Boy or Girl?

Sun 12 Nov 2017, 11:18

Further to Hannan Beth's problem with unwanted grey plastic bags. Back in July I was delivered of two new blue bins of which I obviuosly only need one. On return from a holiday I saw that it was giving birth to more there is now a brand nes grey bin sitting beside it! I have telephoned the council sevaral times and each time they say they will collect these, but so far they remain on the pathg outside my house in Lee's HGeights. I resolutely refuse to put them on my property as they are nothing to do with me, so sorry to,m passers by who have to avoid these things. IU resent the fact that the council are willing to waste our money on such things, after all tyhey must be quite expensive to producwe. Please accept my apologies fo0r anly odd spellings, I only have one useable eye at present and that has a cataract!

Wed 8 Nov 2017, 22:57 (last edited on Wed 8 Nov 2017, 22:59)

Interestingly, I learned today that recycled plastic is now being used for filling potholes, and that Oxfordshire will be experimenting with this in future. Apparently it is much cheaper and longer lasting than tarmac. So watch this space - or should I say pothole - not difficult round here as there are plenty of them!!

Wed 8 Nov 2017, 22:20

Many polythene food bags do contain a statement 'recycle with carrier bags at larger stores'. I have made a collection of these including wrappers from:
sliced bread
frozen peas
quorn mince
kitchen towels
fair trade bananas
carrots
Magazines
Toilet rolls

Generally they are the softer plastic, not the crinkly kind. A lot of unlabelled bags (eg from clothes purchased on line) would also fit into this category.

Only trouble is there is nowhere to drop them off in Charlbury. Sainsburys in Witney has a collection point in the entrance foyer. Maybe we could ask the Charlbury Coop to set up a collection point?

Wed 8 Nov 2017, 18:53

Thank you Heather.
Well, I will not pass comment on the grammar, but the list is atrocious. I recently spent a week in Lymm, Cheshire. A fairly affluent area I'm informed. They have just three wheelie bins: grey for general rubbish; blue top for recyclable (glass, cardboard, etc); green for garden waste.
It may not be perfect but it does ensure that householders do try to recycle. The procedure we now have in Charlbury is so Byzantine that I suspect that many won't engage with it, and just shove most stuff into the grey bin.
On that note what on earth am I to do with all these grey plastic bags?

Wed 8 Nov 2017, 18:17

After emailing the council about flyaway plastics on the 13th October this is the reply I had today:
Dear Ms Williams

Thank you for your email.

We trialled this service for many years, but unfortunately the processing plant is not accepting flyaway plastics. Do the new collection service the Council…

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Wed 8 Nov 2017, 15:20

What the Dickens!
Just returned home to find over 20 grey PLASTIC bags on my doorstep marked "WODC Household Waste". You couldn't make it up!
What am I to do with them? (Polite suggestions only please.)

Wed 8 Nov 2017, 14:12

I agree with the call for more use of paper bags. I avoid buying veg in a supermarket unless I really have no alternative; I buy mine on Witney Market, and they give me my veg in ... paper bags! I cannot remember when I last saw paper bags used in supermarkets. The one quality that plastic has over paper is its ability to be sealed, and thus difficult to tamper with, and I am sure that's why it is used so much. Interestingly, they use paper bags a lot in USA supermarkets; perhaps we should follow their example?

Wed 8 Nov 2017, 10:49

Good news! Thanks Ian.

Wed 8 Nov 2017, 10:27

Quote from the Ardley ERF webpages:

The facility began operation in 2014, treating 300,000 tonnes of non-recyclable waste each year. It will divert at least 95% of Oxfordshire's residual municipal waste away from landfill and generate enough electricity to power around 38,000 homes.

Wed 8 Nov 2017, 10:20 (last edited on Wed 8 Nov 2017, 10:22)

But having picked our loose fruit or veg we still need to put it in a bag of some sort before going to the till to pay or it would be chaos.
Perhaps the retailers should have paper bags like some old fashioned greengrocers used, instead of the plastic ones which are the only ones that seem to be available nowadays.
Our grey bin collected this week had in it just one bag from our kitchen wastebin, unfortunately plastic, but luckily of recycled plastic, which contained almost nothing but plastic fly-away packaging because almost everything else we manage to recycle.
Thank goodness that does not go into land-fill to be dug up in a few centuries time still looking more or less as it does today.
If we can't recycle/reuse it at least incinerating must be the best alternative; what happens to the energy created; is it used for some purpose or is that just waste too?

Wed 8 Nov 2017, 09:00

Yes, there is a lot of packaging these days. I suppose a step in the right direction would be to buy loose fruit and veg if there is a choice.

Tue 7 Nov 2017, 20:22 (last edited on Tue 7 Nov 2017, 20:26)

I agree, it is extremely confusing and I find myself asking on a daily basis what I should be recycling.

At the most recent Environment Committee meeting we were told that there is no longer any market for fly-away plastic recycling. It used to be sent to China but they no longer take these plastics. As a result, any fly-away plastic that is put into recycling will be sent for incineration.

I did ask whether is was a question of economics but the fact is that no-one wants it, because there is no use for it. Flyaway plastic can only be recycled a few times before it is no longer viable. The reduction in the use of plastic bags means that there is a reduced demand worldwide.

Almost all the plastic I recycle is food packaging - perhaps there is a lesson here that we should be campaigning to reduce plastic used for this purpose.

Tue 7 Nov 2017, 17:51

I do find it odd that a local authority and/or waste disposal company can dictate to its customers what they can and cannot do. I don't mind sorting waste (to a degree), but when it comes to e.g. deciding what is "hard" plastic or not, I get confused. I had to dispose of an "Ariel" container yesterday. I used my discretion to decide that the body was soft plastic, but the lid, hard. So, like a dutiful citizen (aka "a mug") I separated the two with a Stanley knife, almost severing a digit in the process. Has it really come to this?

Tue 7 Nov 2017, 16:54

I too, like Stephen Andrews would welcome an explanation from Carol Reynolds as to why fly-away plastics are not being recycled and my refuse bin contents are now more than twice the volume they were before the change.

Tue 7 Nov 2017, 16:44

Likewise. (including glass bottles too)
Credit where it is due, they seem to be getting their act together.

Tue 7 Nov 2017, 15:37

For the first time since the changeover, our full complement of bins was emptied promptly today: two recycling boxes, one grey sack, one food bin.

Tue 7 Nov 2017, 11:29

As I have said in a previous post, our towns and villages are being overrun by these phalanxes of unsightly bins! Accordingly I applied to retain my recycling box (as we were advised at the time that we could do), and my blue bin was collected, implying that my application had been accepted. Following a couple of "no collections", I called WODC and was advised in an extremely high-handed manner that "I would have to make my own recycling arrangements"!
Even considering WODC's staggering high-handed and peacock-like attitude (they are NOT "the cabinet" - the cabinet meets in Downing Street, NOT Witney - they are THE COUNCIL!), this was extraordinary.
They need to sort themselves out. Until that happens, it all goes in the bin. They have only themselves to blame.

Tue 7 Nov 2017, 09:31

Perhaps we can draw upon our town's great community spirit to solve both of the problems frequently mentioned. If those who are still waiting for blue bins could make themselves known to those who are waiting to get unwanted bins removed maybe we could organise a local blue bin shuffle to get them where they are wanted.

I am not sure how the council would view this initiative and there is the risk of people ending up with extra bins and visits by irate bin collectors, but that is looking increasingly unlikely (and we could individually cancel our requests with the council).

We want to get rid of one on Ticknell Piece Road, so if this seems reasonable I'll start a "Bin Shuffle" thread here.

Mon 6 Nov 2017, 23:20

Numerous phone calls to WOCC regarding non delivery of recycling blue bins, to group of four houses on Market Street, since beginning of September, has resulted in the delivery of one bin!
Probably just as well, since, once we all have a bin, there will be no pavement available for pedestrians with 8 bins (including green bins) out for collection in a very narrow part of the street. (Request for small bins was met with "you have to try the large ones until February")

Mon 6 Nov 2017, 10:19

John, WODC did, indeed say around the time that blue lidded bins were first delivered, that smaller ones would be available - but not until February. I assume that is why no larger ones have been taken away.

Mon 6 Nov 2017, 08:20 (last edited on Mon 6 Nov 2017, 09:45)

I appreciate that getting the basic new collection service working is a priority, but before it is forgotten, please can we be told why flyaway plastics were omitted as a recyclable item under the new contract (now it transpires effectively with themselves), contrary to the WODC consultation regarding the reasons for the switch?

Sun 5 Nov 2017, 11:08

We have been given a new blue-lidded bin that and have told WODC that it's too big for our storage area - they were meant to collect it and give us a smaller bin, but collection is still awaited!

Sun 5 Nov 2017, 10:50 (last edited on Sun 5 Nov 2017, 10:52)

Most of the staff from the previous contractor were TUPEd over to Ubico.

Christine, the larger bins that are mentioned are not new black bins, they are larger blue wheelie bins. There is no plan to replace the old black bins so if anyone needs another one we will have to set up a swap shop with people who no longer need theirs.

Sat 4 Nov 2017, 18:36

"lack of local knowledge" is surely something of a red herring as most staff working for the previous contractor would have been entitled to a TUPE transfer to the new one? or is the problem that they chose NOT to move?

Sat 4 Nov 2017, 15:15

Yes, thank you, Liz. I can see that this has been very time-consuming for you and also Andy.

This is a very informative statement from WODC & is well worth sharing. But I notice that no mention is made of the decision to cut one waste collection vehicle and team. It seems to me that the problem is not simply loss of local knowledge, but the decision to cut resources & reallocate the teams in a way that makes little sense.

Ubico knew from the start that this is a predominately rural area (as indeed are most of the other council areas that it covers), so this can hardly have been a surprise. Questions will certainly need to be asked about this so-called "Teckal company", if the service does not quickly improve.

I see that there is a proposal to issue larger black boxes to those who need them. Good. But I trust that replacement small black boxes will continue to be supplied. Mine are falling to pieces, but dealing with a larger black box would defeat me as I have a long way to carry mine.

Sat 4 Nov 2017, 13:36

Thank you Liz. I'm sure I'm not the only one who appreciates all your efforts on our behalf.

Sat 4 Nov 2017, 09:49 (last edited on Sat 4 Nov 2017, 10:01)

There are a large number of people in Charlbury, Finstock and Fawler who have had problems with the new rubbish collection service and Andy and I have spent a large amount of our time these past few weeks trying to get people's bins emptied and the unwanted blue bins collected…

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