Most houses in Abingdon are served by wheelie bins as part of the recently introduced waste processing system.
Other houses, like this one on Ock Street, have bags instead. They had a delivery today – possibly only the second time this has happened. They are mostly houses without rear access.
I would guess the projected cost of the bags will become more than the cost of the bins after a certain time. Therefore in the long run the bins become the cheaper, more environmentally friendly, option.
A few door away, in the Brewery Development, wheelie bins have become a permanent feature at the front. Here rear access is difficult but not impossible.
Portland Oregon has a ban on grocery store plastic bags starting next week, it also starts a city wide composting program too, where we can put food scraps in the yard debris roll cart !
I find it troubling that the best Abingdon can do is deliver plastic bags to the doorstep
You should check out the city of Portlands web page for the recycling info….I’m glad to live in a city like Portland!
Plastic bags are only for houses where impractical to have a wheelie bin. Abingdons recycling rates are among the highest in the uk, with approximately three quarters of domestic waste being recycled.
Personally I’m glad to live in a town like Abingdon!
Tony, a new refuse collection system was foisted on the people of Abingdon by councillors who hadn’t really thought it through and had no empathy for local situations. The example illustrated here was foreseen by myself and others, the only people incapable of seeing the implications were the Council
This was an act of vandalism by the Council. I only hope that they’re not going to ruin the town centre as well.
As for ‘approximately three quarters fo domestic waste being recycled’ … this is a politician’s number like those 45 minute Iraqi missiles. Basic post-hoc puffery disigned to convince themselves that they’ve done the right thing (no one else believes them).
Tony – another thing we like to do in England is moan
Cheer up newcomer Abingdon is a lovely place to live and a million miles from going to rack and ruin
Newcomer is talking complete tosh. if you look on the Vale’s website and search for the Board Report you’ll find all sorts of interesting performance statistics. Recycling is currently about 70 per cent. It’s easy to moan, perhaps for once we should celebrate having just about the best recycling rate in the country.
The bins might not look that great but believe me, compared to the mountain of stinking, rotting black sacks that used to be dumped around the Brewery Development at odd times during the week (because no one bothered to consult their free bin delivery schedules), bins are a far better solution. As to the lack of access to certain properties – it would help if people didn’t dump their rubbish, their bins and their clutter in access alleyways – required for some people to actually wheel their bins off their property to where they are usually collected from. The bin collections have been excellent too. Bins are always put back where they are collected from, the right way up (even when it’s raining) with the lids closed.
Compared to Central Oxford’s weirdness with bins (a green bin for your household waste, a blue bin for recycling – because blue is the recycling colour not green, right? /golf clap) The Vale gets it bang on. Keep the bins, ditch the bags!
Tony I think your out on your own on this one. i understand it can be tricky in some flats etc. I dont know anyone who dislikes the bin/ recycling system although i knew alot of people who didnt like the idea of it at the begining. Personally i have always recycled and if it composts then it goes in the compost bin, if its to big or not the right stuff then i take it to the dump always have done and this system makes my life so much easier. To have food waste taken away from your doorstep is fantastic. I think the only people who dont like it are the messy and lazy people of this town. If you are tidy with your waste and wash your recycling first then there is no reason for smells or rats or mucky bins atall. I think people need to realise that they own thier rubbish, they chose to buy it therefore it belongs to them. The fact that we have a system where by the council take all manor of waste away from our doorstep is fantastic and although you can argue that we pay our taxes for this service i would hate to think how much it would cost if we all had to call in a private firm do do it for us and take responsibility of our own waste. Its sad that we have to force people to sort and recycle their own waste. FOR CHRIST SAKE ITS YOUR RUBBISH NOBODY ELSES!!
Good Grief! Ian’s Political Pixies have come out in force!
outsider believes all she reads.
SweetZombieJesus has been thinking of a Blog-Handle and it’s, obviously, addled her brains and she can write almost as much tosh as …
… Native … who lives in a fantasy land where people are only allowed to write in turgid anti-prose.
Ian’s Army must wander around with their eyes closed … does he send them cyclostyled instructions and mogadon?
About time Ian had the ability, skill, imagination, public commitment, intelligence, local knowledge, energy … etc and etc to create a blog of his own and not piggy-back on this one.
This Blog is one of the good things about Abingdon. In terms of communal input it beats the pants off anything the Council does to promote the town.
I agree its an excellent blog newcomer – that’s all I suspect I’ll agree with you on. I’m sure others are more than capable of forming their own views and don’t take their lead from me.
And by the way my name is Iain
I knew you were a pedant.
Probably 🙂
I agree with Iain and the vast majority on this. There wre a few inevitable teething problems with the nes system but overall it is a significant improvement. Recycling rates are higher, cost is lower, the ben men leave less rubbish after collections and foxes/cats/rats can’t get at the rubbish any more.
The main problem in other places was where they didn’t go for weekly food waste collection, but the vale does that, as well as supporting composting.
…anyone see this week’s Dispatches on Ch4? Didn’t bode well for “our” recycling method (Co-mingling).