Recycling bins breed like bunnies

An effort to get more families to recycle may be making more people confused and even angry. Families in the near future will be forced to use a total of five recycling bins in an effort to get recycling rates up, but the scheme is not meeting with much approval at the community level.

Ministers say that the separate bins for glass, paper, food, plastic and other waste will make a significant contribution to decreasing waste headed for landfills.

Community members are not thrilled with the idea and many people say the scheme will lead to chaos as household members lack time to divide refuse into so many bins. In addition, communities fear clogging their streets with hundreds of rubbish containers.

One of the most vocal opponents of the plan are the elderly. Help the Aged said: “Common sense needs to be used. We don’t want people fined for using the wrong bin.”

In Manchester, a 95-year old, partially sighted ex-Desert Rat Lenny Woodward put two items of his household waste in the wrong bin. As a result, the council refuges to empty his waste bin.

In the same council area, 73-year-old Barry Freezer says he was treated like a criminal when he put cabbage stalks in his bin. The council refused to collect his garden waste because the trimmings should have been kitchen rubbish instead.