An interesting story published a few days ago in London’s Evening Standard has shed light on how Hounslow Council deals with it’s street litter bins.
Local resident Nick Synes raised the alarm when he peered outside the window of his flat and noticed that the refuse collectors were throwing all of his rubbish into a lorry for general waste, and not a specific recycling truck. He says he spoke to the workers, who told him that all waste from flats above shops and street litter bins either goes to landfill or is incinerated.
According to the story, Nick felt that the council was misleading the public, so promptly went out and stuck signs on street bins saying “General Waste Only. Hounslow Council Does Not Recycle The Contents Of This Bin”. His aim was to inform the public that the rubbish they threw in it would not be recycled, despite the council placing different bins for different types of rubbish on the streets… and the bins being clearly marked with a recycling symbol, with the word “recycle” underneath.
Hounslow council did in fact acknowledge that all the rubbish from their street bins isn’t sorted into different categories and is all disposed of together. A spokeswoman from the council said that the bins were part of an earlier trial that was now obsolete due to the waste often being contaminated with non-recyclable materials. She did add however, that the council were working to find solutions for the future.
A word of caution
The spokeswomen also pointed out that anyone that took it upon themselves to stick notices onto the bins in future could be liable for a fixed penalty notice and/or prosecution.
Read the full story with a picture of the bins.
About Us
When we’re not blogging about waste management, we’re out and about on London’s roads collecting and recycling the capital’s unwanted rubbish.