What should I do with my rubbish and recycling?

What should I do with my rubbish and recycling?

It is the tenants’ responsibility to properly handle and dispose of your refuse and recycling according to the government guidelines and council regulations. If you have any questions about this you should contact your local council:


If you live in a block or flats or within a development/estate, there may be special requirements about how you handle your refuse and recycling. For further information on this, please contact the block or estate management company. You can usually find their details on a notice board in the communal hallway of a block of flats or on a notice board somewhere near the entrance of the estate.


Contacting your local council or block/estate management company will help you find out the answers to:

  • Where do my bins go?
  • Where should I put my rubbish or recycling?
  • On what days are the bins emptied?
  • Why wasn’t my bin emptied?
  • How can I arrange for an additional collection if my bin collection was missed?
  • How can I get a new bin?
  • How can I find out which bins belong to my property?
  • and many other similar questions


If you have private rubbish (such as excess waste that the council will not remove, or bulky items such as old furniture) that you would like to have removed from your property, you can hire a private waste collector such as:

  • Clear-A-Waste: 01727 555105


Please note any contractor names and contact details are given in good faith, however, we cannot and do not accept any responsibility or liability for anything relating to your use of their services.



A note from the council on Fly Tipping:


Fly tipping 
It is an offence to deposit any domestic waste in any place that is not licensed to accept it, or in any place not designated as a waste collection area. Normally householders will use
·         the household waste bins or plastic bags for weekly collection
·         take it to a registered charity shop or to a household recycling centre such as at Ronson way
·         take designated items to other recycling points (Sainsbury, Morrisons, Waitrose etc.) for the disposal of cardboard, paper, glass, clothing, shoes etc.
·         use street bins for small amounts of general waste.
It would be fly tipping if any household waste including any packaging, delivery boxes, wrapping material  (whether in plastic bags or not)
·         were stored next to a household bin or plastic sack (except folded cardboard)
·         left out on the street more than the night before a collection is due
·         placed outside a charity shop or household waste site when it was closed
·         placed next to or on top of a waste bin at a recycling point or the material was not one of the items designated i.e. placing a bag of food waste next to a ‘paper and cardboard’ only bin
·         place large amounts of waste or unsuitable waste into a street bin i.e. a weeks’ worth of rubbish, a bag of animal excreta, medical waste etc.
Duty of Care
Where a domestic householder contracts a third party (whether for payment or benefit) to remove domestic waste on their behalf, they have a legal duty of care to ensure that the person they contract is registered with the Environment Agency to collect, transfer and dispose of waste. If they do not check and the material is then fly tipped, the householder remains liable and can be prosecuted for failing in their duty of care. This section does not apply where the householder genuinely asks a relative or friend to assist in taking any waste to the local recycling point
 
This offence normally happens when people leave fridges or washing machines outside the house for collection by what used to be called the rag and bone man. Alternatively they are approached by someone calling door to door who offers to take waste away for cash or the householder leave items out in the hope it will be of use to someone or will be recycled by someone. The same outcome applies, if it is later fly tipped the householder may be liable
 
We can also request the Police to arrest and detain for the purpose of criminal interview.  Where evidence exists a £400 penalty ticket can be issued in lieu of prosecution for the offence(s) disclosed. Equally where an offence is serious, repeated or organised,  we can summons offenders to court where penalties include an unlimited fine and  or imprisonment.
 
Two last points –
Domestic waste is not regarded as being fly tipped if the householder keeps or stores the waste within the curtilage of the domestic property.
Waste produced by a person running a business from the home is regarded as commercial waste. As such they can only dispose of this waste (not their domestic waste) if  they either register themselves with the Environment Agency to take commercial waste to a commercial tip, or, they have a  commercial contract with a registered company to collect the waste.

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