RIGHT. I’ve got my grey bin, my green bin, my glass box and my compost bin ready to do my bit for the environment, and to cope with the reduced rubbish collection which comes into force here next week.

The trouble is, I can see the green bin being half empty on collection day, due to the number of items I have now found are not accepted for recycling, such as plastic and foil food trays and tetrapack drinks cartons. Consequently, the grey bin is likely to be overfull as these items will have to be added to the animal and “nasty” waste.

I am not looking forward to having such rotting waste hanging around in my bin for up to a fortnight, and I feel that such a system falls far below what should be expected in a civilised 21st century society.

Anyone who even believes that we get a good service at the moment should travel more. They would discover that, for example, in remote Spanish villages, as in many French communities, refuse is collected virtually every single day. Some countries have communal skips and large bins which residents can use as they need, and they are also emptied on a regular basis.

Granted, they can get a bit whiffy in summer, but they are not in anyone’s garden! I remember writing at the time that refuse collections in Kirklees were reduced to once a week, about the “cave dwellers” of the Loire Valley in France, inhabitants of converted wine caves cut into the cliff face. Even they have their rubbish collected twice a week.

If those in other countries can afford to finance what they see as a priority, why can’t we? Or is having filth around for weeks on end not much of a priority?

Alan Starr

Golcar