As someone who can truthfully say that my old man (was*) a dustman, I can tell you this, if only from a Bromley/Veolia perspective:
Back in the day, the council/council contractors had a permanent staff who would be on your round pretty much every week. Hence, you could give them a drink at Christmas and then the nod was a good as the wink when it came to collecting the odd bit of garden waste, shower enclosure, dead horse, etc. for the following 12 months.
Nowadays, the bin lorries have GPS trackers** and cameras with live feeds and recording back at base, the tippings are scrutinised at the tip for naughties and instant dismissal for any transgression. Well, for those who are actually employed, though most are agency anyway so are just not renewed at the end of the week.
They get arsey about the recycling as if a load is too contaminated it gets rejected by the recycling company and goes back to landfill, thus costs the council, which gets passed on to back to the residents. If the paper/cardboard gets too wet, it can be rejected too. No idea why. I know there is a big recycling centre in Bromley where the recycling lorries are emptied onto a big conveyer belt and loads of agency workers stand either side picking out the things that shouldn't be there, including nappies, full up containers, engine parts, etc, etc. and regularly have to dodge the rats that inevitably thrive around there. Not a pleasant job.
Bromley residents have:
A big waste wheelie bin for non-recyclable. Lone black bags aren't generally collected, but if you ask nicely...
Big box for paper/cardboard
Big box for glass & plastic
Big hopper for food waste
Small hopper for food waste for the worktop (the compostable bags were free to collect from libraries, council offices, etc. for about 20 mins then they started charging for them. Cheaper in Sainsbury's)
Optional big garden waste bin - £60 a year.
Is it really that inconvenient or are the old 'uns just finding another minor thing to moan about?
*F-I-L was a supervisor, in charge of the binmen. He retired as he found the new H&S, D&I, etc, etc too much. His view was that they were there to pick up rubbish. Strange concept...
When he did retire some years ago, he ensured that he and immediate family had sufficient recycling boxes and lids (great for Xmas decs, etc), black bin bags (rolls of 'em!) and the new compostable bags. Boxes and boxes of compostable bags. Enough to last years. Only he didn't realise just how quickly they decomposed, and ended up with a garage full of cardboard boxes full of what can only be described as dust.
**I can log on and see when the bin was emptied. Quite impressive actually.
