On 13/01/2018 19:48, David wrote:
For many years (at least 10 I think) we have had a brown bin for recycling
garden waste and food waste. Provided by the council.

The current contract is ending and the council are proposing to start
charging in the future. Oh, they will supply a full size brown bin if
requested; for reasons of general stupidity everyone was originally given
a half size bin with the option to buy a second half size one if required.
But I digress.

We don't have much in the way of borders so composting is not the answer;
we would have nowhere to put all the compost.

Just wondering if most people had a free collection of garden and food
waste for recycling at the moment.

Increasingly cash strapped councils are charging extra for green waste
since they are not under any statutory obligation to collect it.

I foresee that there will not be a full uptake of the new service and so
there is the potential for charges to be raised to make up the shortfall
in revenue, which will in turn lead to a further fall in use, higher
prices, death spiral.

And a lot of fly tipping too

I am also intrigued by the way they intend to police this. I assume that
they will come round and collect all the brown bins from people who don't
want to pay instead of trying to maintain a list, but who knows?

If it is anything like ours they issue tags for all the people who have
paid their dues.

Probable result will be the same number of recycling bin lorries covering
the same distance with the same crew, but just collecting less waste.
There is a dedicated lorry for the blue bins (packaging etc.) and another
for the brown bins (organic waste) so money saving doesn't seem to be on
the cards.

Anyway, do most people get a free collection?

Not any more. It used to be free.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown