There could be a wheelie bin on its way to you, as Herefordshire Council considers introducing the mobile containers to further its recycling campaign, and cut the number of visits by giant transporters to household waste sites
The council is at present running a discussion forum on wheelie bins on its website. It is open until June 29.
Waste services manager Richard Wood says no decisions have been made. “We are hoping this discussion will help us to decide,” he says. “But in the main they have proved quite popular where they have been used.”
One householder complains on the site: “The idea of using a wheeled bin is a pain.
“A lot of people don’t have the space, and those who do don’t really want one of these bins stuck outside their front window.
“I would never have a wheeled bin in my front garden. And there are people who can’t move these bins.”
Several residents agree that many houses do not have anywhere to put a wheelie bin, to which Richard Wood replies: “A wheeled bin would mean easier recycling, with no sorting of materials. And more kerbside recycling of glass and cartons in a receptacle would provide more secure storage. If bins are the option we choose, they will be provided and paid for by the council.”
One resident says animals tear open bin bags and spread the contents all over the place. “Surely wheelie bins would be better for this reason alone,” they say. Another says wheelies have been used on the Continent for decades, and UK residents just don’t like change.
Mr Wood says wheelie bins should reduce the need for visits to household waste sites. He says: “We think we should carry on collecting our black bag rubbish weekly – many councils have decided to collect it fortnightly.
“But we would like to change the household recycling collection to fortnightly. That would mean we could provide kerbside recycling to every household in the county, not just the present 72%.
“To do this we are proposing to provide a wheeled bin to hold mixed recyclables. We need to use wheeled bins because we cannot collect glass in bags for obvious safety reasons.”
The consultation runs until June 19, and the response will be published on September 30.
But the wheelie bin idea is causing concern in Ross-on-Wye, where it would mean the end of the area’s popular Blue Box scheme and the loss of jobs for disadvantaged young people in the town.
Members of Ross-on-Wye U3A (University of the Third Age) say they are appalled at the prospect of losing the Blue Box scheme and its replacement by wheelie bins.
Local group EnviroAbility has run the Blue Box scheme in Ross for several years, providing jobs for disadvantaged young people in the town.
After a talk by Dennis Humble of EnviroAbilty to about 70 U3A members at their monthly meeting, local U3A chairman Mrs Hillary Stringer was asked to write to the council expressing their views.
Mrs Stringer said: “We were surprised that a scheme considered to be working well might be replaced by something that might not be as good.
“The membership was appalled that funding for our Blue Box scheme might be removed. It was generally agreed that it is an excellent scheme, providing worthwhile jobs in our community.
“There is also the question of the size of the wheelie bins. Not everyone has a sensible place to put one.
“It would be sad to take away those jobs. Mr Humble thinks there might be alternative jobs for these young people, but they will miss the contacts and friendships they make through the work.”
Denis Humble said: “A piece of modern local history is about to change.
“The Blue Box project has helped to change positively how a community feels about and reacts with disadvantaged groups, while improving the way the groups feel about themselves.
“It has brought many of us into contact with people with learning disability in a way that would not otherwise have happened and has helped to spread the message in the community that the service users are simply people.
“The company has become financially self-sustaining, a remarkable achievement for any organisation in this field.”
