Shocked by bad behaviour at recycling facility
ON SUNDAYS, with my six- and three-year-old sons, we religiously pop to the Longue Hougue recycling facility. We look to see if there are any little projects to take on, with the intention of helping the children value consumables along with understanding the benefits of reusing, up-cycling, repairing and finding new uses for the throw-away things and leftovers of others. It's good fun. We might 'do up' a bicycle or go-cart, or perhaps use an iron skillet for a fire bowl. The most amazing to date was transforming an old pump to power a home-made rocket. This weekend we were unfortunate enough to cross tracks with an intimidating-looking man propping up one of the skips. We spot him often, roaming like a security guard – but he is not staff. You might see him pouncing on anything of potential financial value, as it was this Sunday.
He grabbed a branded bike from one of the customers who passed it over the skip area. Another bike came into the compound too. As he grunted and swaggered off with his bounty, my six-year-old noticed a little computer on the other bike now against the skip. We set to work carefully removing the technology; he was excited about measuring distance and the times of our bike rides.
Imagine our surprise as a few minutes later we had almost salvaged the minicomputer when the brute aggressively snatched the bike, ripping the wires from my son's hand and claiming this was his property (he had not been at the skip as I think he was loading up his van with yet more items to possibly sell on).
My immediate reaction was a verbal expletive as I protected my son and was somewhat astonished at such Stone Age behaviour. I was shocked.
My son brought me back to earth. 'Don't worry, Daddy, I can get one for my birthday,' he said.
We walked off. The beast held the bike in the air like it was some hard-won trophy. As he threw it in the skip he suggested we now salvage the destroyed items.
We walked away and I uttered another cross rebuke as I reminded him this was a child's project.
I'm sad that there is so much potential at the site yet some seem to think of the place as their own territory, with no sharing in mind.
We will return at weekends (but maybe take a break for Lent). We still have to find a bike computer.
My three-year-old told his mum about the experience. He did not really understand the underlying tones, but he loved that the day before we got a bike that later on the Sunday we pedalled to the autocross at Chouet. While the boys were captivated by the old cars roaring around the beach, I quietly reflected on the actions of a fellow human, who denied a child of a little fun. How to explain it to a three-year-old?
If you are curious just pop by the site and you might see this intimidating person leaning against the skips, possessively grabbing anything that could be sold on.
Of course it is fine and admirable to trade old acquired finds, but perhaps better to act with a little humility and within the spirit that many of the people dropping things off might expect – that is if you are working these reclamation spaces for financial gain.
Hoping for better luck next visit.
NAME AND ADDRESS WITHHELD.
Editor's footnote: Trading Assets senior manager, waste services, Sarah Robinson replies:
I am very sorry to hear of your correspondent's experience. We operate a strict code of conduct at the Longue Hougue Recycling Facility and aggressive or antisocial behaviour will not be tolerated. Anyone who does not show courtesy towards other site users can be asked to leave and, if necessary, banned. We therefore encourage visitors to report any issues to the staff so that appropriate action can be taken.
As well as helping to give a new lease of life to thousands of unwanted items, more than 1,000 tonnes of materials were recycled through the Longue Hougue site last year. It is therefore an important facility and one that islanders make very good use of. We want everyone to feel welcome.
We have planning permission for a new, purpose-built household waste recycling centre, which will be a major improvement on the current site.
We hope to begin construction later this year, and in preparation for that the current facility will shortly be moving to another temporary location, still at Longue Hougue but slightly further north. We will take that opportunity to make some changes to the operation of the site, which hopefully will improve the experience for users.
