Bid to stop recycling blowing around backfires on woman
RECYCLING bags placed in wheelie bins for collection are not guaranteed to be picked up, to the annoyance of one St Sampson’s resident.
Suzanne Pinchemain, 57, bought wheelie bins to place her blue and clear recycling bags in to prevent them from being scattered around her clos, but found on the last collection her bags had been left.
‘The St Sampson’s douzaine were extremely helpful and apologetic and said they would make sure the bags were collected, but we don’t want to have to leave them out of the bin.
‘We had rats come up from the garden, we tried to rinse the food packets but they could probably still smell the meat, my husband saw one jump out of one of the blue bins. I don’t want my dog to be attacked by a rat because of this. Then cats tore the bins apart and there was rubbish all over the road.
‘Don’t they want this island to be clean and tidy? It won’t be the people’s fault when there’s rubbish all over the place,’ she said.
We will not put a stone over the bins because that would be dangerous.’
Guernsey Waste operations manager, Sarah Robinson, said the collections are provided by the douzaines, not it.
‘Therefore whether or not wheelie bins or other receptacles are acceptable is a matter for each parish,’ she said.
‘We have always advised against their use for kerbside recycling collection because they are entirely unnecessary and, if materials are being picked up by different vehicles, they are unlikely to look in every wheelie bin for blue and clear bags.
‘It is much better just to leave them alongside other waste, where it is clearly visible.
‘The kerbside scheme has been operating successfully since March 2014 and to date this has not been a major issue. If someone has purchased wheelie bins, while we have some sympathy for them it is not what we would ever have advised.
‘If they have a complaint regarding their recycling not being collected they should contact their parish in the first instance.’
