A council plan to send bin staff knocking on doors in Wolverhampton to tick people off for not recycling has been dumped – amid fears employees could be thumped.
The policy was today deemed a waste of time and money by the new Tory-Liberal Democrat alliance, which said people could not be forced into recycling through Big Brother-style spying.
The former controlling Labour group had instructed officers to keep records on households failing to put out their green recycling box.
As well as halting this, the new alliance has also decided to stop red and white stickers being placed on bins belonging to homes identified as not recycling paper, glass and cans.
The controversial policy, which came into force from April, was described
Liberal Democrat councillor Malcolm Gwinnett said today: “The binmen are under a lot of stress as it is and there are easier ways of educating people than sending someone round to their address.
“At the end of the day, I don’t want anyone getting thumped. You cannot force people to recycle – it’s a waste of time and money and we’ve got other things to deal with.”
16 Comments
in the area i live NO ONE has these green boxes, this is despite residents complaining for over a month to get one. and we are STILL waiting! give us the green box before moaning we dont recycle!
Why dont the people who think up these daft idea’s try them out for themselves before asking binmen to take the full brunt of some people , i think the council needs to wake up and stop making stupid decisions and wasting money in the process
At last some common sense.I don’t like being TOLD I have to re-cycle and have been refusing to do it but if the council go about it in a civil way they will get more response and respect instead of using bullying tactics.
i recycle glass paper and tins in my one bin garden waste in my green bin veggie waste in my compost bin yet i still have a bin bag full every week dudley do not take card or plastic and there is only 2 of us when are the supermarkets going to clean up their acts and your right number 3 i wasnt told and it worked if i had have been told i wouldnt have done by force so well done dudley council, try and sort out the plastic and cardboard so i only have half a bag
Has anyone ever seen the binmen after lunch time? Are they on a finish and go home scheme? They race around estates and leave bins that they have to walk 10 feet to pick up. If the bin is not left neatly at the roadside so they have to use minimum effort they can’t be bothered to empty. With parked cars it isn’t always possible to get the bin in their preferred place. They used to collect from the house, then from the gate, now the only thing the paying public don’t do for them is actually load the carts. How long before we have to do that?
I’m on a fixed income and I have to spend my money wisely, so would thumping a council worker cost more or less than not recycling? It’s a delicate question and I hope the answer is less for thumping a council worker.
The headline says it all, people will be sent around to TICK OFF people who do not recycle.
Perhaps the council would be better off advising people how/best way to recycle.
Just what kind of country is this turning into? Spying on our own people..environment ‘police’..more CCTV than any other country. If you want a good way of taking the ‘Great’ out of Great Britain - you’re doing a damn good job of it. Oh and BTW, we pay your wages and tell you what to do, New Labour..not the other way round.
Third world population doubles every few decades..Asia has no obligation to follow the same rules as we do as regards waste disposal and recyling. This is just yet another means of establishing a Big Brother state..Labour should be ashamed.
I recycle although some fortnights i do not have enough items in my green box making it worthwhile to put out so i wait until the next fortnight to put the box out when it is more full. All of the items are cleaned out before they are put in the green box so they do not smell or attract rodents. However over the past six weeks i have recieved 2 stickers stating that i am not recycling (as described in the article) so what can you do. You dont recycle, you get told to, you do recycle you’re dictated as to how often. ridiculas!!
A last minute outbreak of common sense - but how did the stupid idea get to the point of almost becoming reality in the first place? What if you just don’t buy/need things in recyclable containers?
I would love to be able to recycle things, but unfortunately I live in a multi-storey block of flats and our council dosn’t help!!! We don’t have car either, so can’t take things to the tip!
Make the recycling service weekly, make sure manufacturers use recyclable packaging and give everyone every opportunity to recycle with ease. Only then should assistance (not spying) be offered. Its about promotion, not intimidation.
Now we do utilize the recycle bin and do as the council bid but i must make the following statement. When going through school I did not want to be a bin man, not through any disrespect, just not a career i wanted to take up. I took at YTS scheme, when leaving school and got placement with an employer, not the Council and not as a bin man. I have progressed my career, earning more money (not as a bin man) only to see local council take more and more in the way of Council Tax and then expect me to be a bin man. I am expected sort the rubbish for them, put the bin in the correct place, facing in the right direction, collect the bin from wherever they decide to leave it and then get a sticker for getting something slightly wrong, once!!! Stressful job being a bin man??? That’s the funniest thing i have heard in a long time. The sooner us so called English took a leaf out of the French book the better. Stand up and fight these Council muppets!!!!
Collect & recycle plastic & cardboard.
Frank (6), lol, you made my day with your comment.