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Households in South East London will soon be asked to separate their waste into three different types to help increase the amount of domestic rubbish recycled and reduce the amount emptied on to landfill sites.

Fortnightly Collections

But whilst items that can be recycled will now be collected once a week, non recyclable waste in black bin bags will soon only be picked up once a fortnight. How will the changes affect residents?

Greenwich Council hopes the delivery of a free kitchen bin, known as the 'caddy', will help encourage residents to recycle their food scraps for composting. New blue top bins will also be introduced to collect card, paper, glass, cans and plastics.听

Cllr Rajwant Sidhu, who is in charge of making Greenwich greener, says "Once the new service starts, the more you recycle, the less you have to put into a black sack for fortnightly collections".

The amount of rubbish recycled in the Borough is already increasing. Last year 23% of domestic and commercial waste was dealt with in an environmentally friendly way. That's risen just over 5% in the last three years alone - and now the Council aims to do even better.

Bad odour

One National Newspaper has reacted strongly to local authorities implementing fortnightly collections, calling on it's readers to petition against the proposed loss of the weekly black bag tradition.

Worries over bad smells left from a fortnight's worth of household rubbish have been dismissed by the Council who say food waste wrapped in newspaper will help absorb smells and keep the bins clean.

To help families with young babies a new weekly nappy collection service will be set up.听 Anyone living in the Borough with a young child will qualify to receive special orange sacks that will be collected every seven days.

In neighbouring Bexley, council leaders are warning residents that unless action is taken to improve their recycling rates they could be faced with a 拢1.5 million fine.

They say not meeting Government targets could lead to a 5% increase in local council tax bills to compensate.

From April over 80,000 Bexley households will be supplied with green wheelie bins and for those that already have them they'll get a free compost box. Almost 40% of its waste is currently sent to be recycled, reused or composted.

YOUR VIEWS

In the old system we had one bin which we usually filled up every fortnight or so (sometimes 1 week but mostly 2-3 weeks) but we could put it out on the week and get it emptied that week no fuss. Now we have a green bin, no blue bin (no where to put one) and the use of lots of black bags which sit round for up to two weeks. The green bin never gets full in a week but the council come to empty it anyway.

- Craig

Greenwich council's new recycling scheme is a shambles. They launched their recycling scheme much too abruptly without much "phasing in" and haven't supplied the bins for residences to participate! I never received my Blue Top bin for mixed recycling.

- Kate

I feel that the council has really missed a trick with the way in which this recycling scheme has been introduced, and are likely to have caused unnecessary hostility within the borough to the idea of recycling. The scheme appears to have been implemented on the cheap and the logistics have not been thought through. Come the summer the bins and streets are likely to stink...just what Greenwich needs.

听- Isobel

The council have yet to extend this facility (brown bins) to residents that live in flats (private or council).听 We (flat resident) have not had a caddy or any option to recycle organic waste even though private flat residents have to pay extra to have bigger bins and recycle bins instead of each flat having several wheely bins.听 The borough is made up of many estates that are unable to recycle effectively (especially where they have gardens).听 They also haven't offered to provide or sell items to assist borough residents who do not have gardens with items like bokashi bins when many other councils have done so.听 This would benefit the residents (less waste, fertilizer for plants and drains), councils (less to collect, cleaner drains) and the environment.

- Anon

Unfortunately the new ideas do not work for everybody. I look daily for last several weeks, well over a month over scattered domestic rubbish in parts of Thamesmead. The bins are overflowing, there is litter over the driveway and parking spaces. It's a pray for insects animals and bacteria. Is the Council simply ignoring the obvious risks to health of its residents ? Or does it wish to be responsible for negligence and failing it's duties ? There was no such problem when there were weekly collections of rubbish.

- Michael

I live in Thamesmead and I just found out about this change in February when all the rubbish bins in my road were full and there were another 50 black bags next to the bins not collected for 3 weeks. I have managed to talk to the council who has sent me a blue bin but now my neighbours have started putting their rubbish into my bin (as it is the only bin that get's emptied... it must be because I have followed the instructions) ... I called the council to tell them if they could send more information packs or someone to show my neighbours how to get rid of their rubbish but I have been told that that is not their problem and that I should teach all my neighbours. I am considering getting rid of my bins and do what my neighbours do....use someone else's bin...

- Susana

I work 7 days a week and hardly have time to look at my post,听 I first had a good look at what was being proposed when the green caddy arrived.听 Whilst I really want to help with all greener issues, the way this was introduced is too sudden and too inflexible.听 The bin man have seen rubbish piled next to the bins as I was a week too late for Greenwich start date, this still has not been collected, and we are now at the end of March.听 I work in an open office and cannot get through to anyone on my听 mobile at lunch time and so the pile of black bags remain next to the bins being ignored by the bin men. Greenwich needs to train the bin men not to be so rigid in their approach and should allow for phasing of this initiative. Also the green caddy does become smelly once the weather becomes less cold.听 So it will create infestation problems indoors and outdoors.

- Syedda

From the onset, the entire way the program was introduced was shotgun, without any gradual integration or communication.听 I think I was first made aware of the program at the end of December '07, for a full change effective January 21.听 January 21 - if anyone's recycling was miss sorted, the rubbish police was out, digging through it, deigning it acceptable or rejecting it and sending it back to be corrected and sit for another week.听 Change of this magnitude requires proper and a little more lengthy communication and education, otherwise you end up getting total anti-recycling reactions.

- Becky

I just want to say - nappy collection once a week is not often enough
- every street is "decorated" with bags of disposable nappies because many parents keep them outside (because of the smell, presumably).听 It's horrible.听 It's going to be even more horrible in the summer heat.

- Rachel

Utter stupidity and the very worst of token environmentalism. I now have to purchase two types of bin bag whereas previously I bought none, drive to the dump with anything that won't go in a bin bag and tidy up after the foxes have had a rummage through. The Vans are now working all hours of the day and to top it all, the food waste is apparently going to power the fleet of Council vehicles - they don't collect enough to power a moped through the shambles of the closure of the Blackwall tunnel tidal change - guess which Council had a hand in that! The worst part is that they have spent 拢123,000 on publicity for this nonsense, how can I get my money back?

-Steve

I鈥檓 worried by the many negative comments posted regarding this issue. Food waste is not an issue as this is collected weekly as was always the case, this apparently then goes to be composted. I have personally found this to be a change for the better, having always been keen to recycle. Indeed the previous fortnightly recycling collection was not enough. Every week my blue recycling bin is full, my green 鈥渃ompostable鈥� bin is virtually empty as I compost most things myself except anything that is likely to attract vermin such as meat scraps etc, and I struggle to fill a black bin bag every fortnight! I was dismayed to see that my neighbours had put out in excess of ten black bin bags for collection this week. I will admit that there are areas that Greenwich council have not considered fully, but I鈥檝e found that if one can鈥檛 get through on the phone than an email will elicit a rapid and polite response. Things that have nonplussed them have ranged from cigarette ends (black bag) to tissues and cotton wool (recyclable as long at not contaminated!!) The pet waste issue is a concern and needs addressing!

- Alex

Why don't you come to the people's republic of Greenwich and see for yourself. On second thoughts, wait until the summer and just follow your nose.

-听 Jean

The new recycling scheme has been an absolute disaster. At one stage we had to wait 3 weeks for our black bin bags to be collected. Now they turn up on the wrong week and often the wrong day! The Council has decreed that all pet waste has to go in the black bags. This means the waste has to sit there for two weeks. Have Greenwich considered what this will look and smell like in the Summer? I have already had animals rip apart my black bags - and spread the contents all over the street. I do plan to buy another bin - but I am guessing there will be many who will just let the rubbish blow away. Hardly the image for an Olympic Borough! I often wonder what we pay council tax for, when the most basic services cannot be carried out efficiently. Recycling is just a convenient excuse.

- Ms Smyth

My road in Plumstead is an absolute mess! Rubbish everywhere & bins full of the wrong rubbish - I can't get through to Greenwich to complain & I can't wait for summer when the situation is going to stink!

- Barbara

This was foisted on ratepayers without consultation, since it's introduction the streets of Abbey wood have become litter bins. The council does nothing for its ratepayers and the bin men spill rubbish everywhere they go., It has become a grafitti ridden pig sty with this scheme

- George

If they want us to use a blue bin then they should give us one.

- Lisa

Can the councillors responsible for this mess kindly provide their address so I can dump my black bags in their street rather than creating a health hazard in mine?

- Dave

I get so confused over what we can and cannot recycle. There should be much clearer instructions to people who want to help out and be green but find the current service too difficult to understand or use

- Jen

I have been trying to contact greenwich council to get their recycling bins for over two weeks and their phone number is constantly engaged. Their action on changing the collection service has been too swift without any sufficient notice and confusing information as to what to do. As per usual no thought has gone into any action this council dreams up

- Martin