Hi everyone
Its that time again that the flies have started around all the bins. We have two weekly collections of general waste and weekly collections from the foods bins.
Unfortunatly we have some dirty people who do not wrap or place food in bags before putting it out. They just scrape the plates direct in to the bins! The flies start and the rats gather as the summer warms up. The smell entises the foxes and once the bins have been pulled over the Giant gulls have their feast and poo on everyones cars and washing.
Why can people not bag the food if we do have to seperate it?
I asked our council (weymouth and portland council) to provide me with a risk assessment for the collectors. After telling me I could not have it, I aplied under the freedom of information act and believe it or not that the collectors have nothing in their risk assessments to deal or even mention vermin or insect issues they may come accross and how to deal or protect themselves from them.
I know wew ill never be able to go back to combined weekly collections so we will just have to put up with a food bin waiting attracting. Sorry for the moan, just hd to get it out.
Doretta
There are biodegradable bags available for specific food waste collections - some councils provide them, others do not. Presumably you cannot wrap food waste in plastic as that would contaminate the end product.
Many of us have to cope with fortnightly collections without a separate food waste collection although from what we have heard, and especially in view of your comments, it does not seem the ideal solution.
A resident from another area persuaded his Council to provide these starch bags free to residents - it may be worth a try.
Regarding the health threat to refuse collectors, there was a Scandinavian University Study in 2003 and this concluded they were at risk of long term lung function decline if general/food waste was only collected once a fortnight. Our Local Government Association responded at the time by saying most residents in the UK had weekly collections and therefore the risk would not apply to refuse collectors here in the UK.
