“I never thought I would see myself defending waste collectors in Gloucester. I do however think that it is reasonable to expect people to put newspaper in the bottom of the bins or if you don¿t have any, then just rinse the thing out. I don¿t think they can be expected to stand there and scrape the thing out - ive scraped them - it takes time. I agree they should stretch themselves to giving it a good bash but since they don¿t even empty some of them that might be asking too much. Having said all that I am appalled at the general pre-madonna attitude of some of the refuse collectors in Gloucester. Pedantic to a ridiculous degree about a bin lid being even slightly open and finding other silly grounds to refuse to collect bins. I manage several houses in Gloucester and I have this problem often as well as, sometimes, a trail of refuse down the road. One of my neighbour's father used to be a refuse collector back in the day when they walked up your drive and carried the bin on their back. She too is appalled at their attitude. I'm glad for them those days are over but Jeez they really seem to have a chip on their shoulder here. Loads of people do jobs they don¿t like for not much money but not all take it out on their customers. So many nice happy people would appreciate this job they clearly resent.”

“Gloucester City Council have tried hard to explain this change to the waste collection service. They have also tried hard to explain how it saves us all money by reducing waste bills and charges for land fill.

Food waste bins should be lined with newspaper or compostable paper liners, especially during the summer months where food will rot very quickly.

Using plastic or corn starch bags increases time, effort and cost as they take much longer to decompose.

It also makes the bin collector's job much harder - do we expect them to inspect food bins before emptying them into the truck? This would make their work impossible and seriously delay the collection.

I have a personal interest in this - but that interest started because I believe that the food waste recycling is the right thing for us all to do.”

“Gloucester City Council have been quite clear and published lots of information on this: we should use newspapers or compostable paper caddy liners to stop food waste sticking to your bin.

The plastic and corn starch bags takes months to decompose - which mean that even more time, effort and money has to be spent, as well as larger facilities to compost the waste.

I sell paper liners in Gloucester, but don't want to break the house rules and advertise here.”

“I agree that paper caddy liners are the simple solution and keep the bins clean.
They are not too expensive if bought off the Internet: just Google paper caddy liners.
I am worried that during the summer the bins will really start smelling, especially if we finally get some sun this year!”

“Yes Tewkesbury council residents are getting one roll of compostable bags free but they will have to buy their own if they want to carry on using them when they run out. Supermarkets have stocked their bags for years to use in garden compost caddies. They haven't brought them in specially for the food caddies. You can buy cushions in my local Sainsburys but it doesn't mean you should be lining your bins with them either. Read the leaflet you were given before the scheme started. If you have lost /recycled it ask for another or check out the web site.
by the way Me Here correcting other people's spelling outside of a class room does seem rather bad manners and spoils the flow of the discussion.”

“Simple answer to this is to use a Paper Caddy Liner, these will keep your Caddy clean and hygenic and are acknowledged as a vital part of the fight against smells and flies when collecting GREEN waste.
Paper Cadddy liners are 100% biodegradable and safe for composting.
The liners can be usd in the small kitchen caddy or large kerbside caddy and will keep caddy clean and no mess is left behind.
I have just bought loads and if anyone wants some, £1.50 for 10 or £7.00 for 50 give me a call on 07526 737216 after 1 pm today and we can sort out a delivery.”

“Firstly, Fact Master, Learn to spell correctly, no one has any excuse for bad spelling, secondly, how hard would it be for the bin men to bang the brown bin on the side of the truck when they tip the food in? (Bin day today, it was witnessed, they don't bang, just tip/pour), and thirdly, why the hell are these supermarkets allowed to stock these so called Bio-Degradeable bags if the council won't take them? Does that mean if I lived in the Elmbridge part of Longlevens, governed by GCC I couldn't use these compostable bags, but if I lived on the Little Normans side which is governed by TBC I could not only use these bags, but I wouldn't have to go to the trouble of buying them either?
Please someone explain what the difference is and where comms have broken down between the local councils :(”

“I am getting so tired of this now. I have to ask first why the Citizen repeatedly feature full page stories about poeple who do things incorrectly regarding thier recycling. Still. It would appear the council spokesperson in the story was either misreported or got it worng. The composting process at Dymock takes 10 weeks fact: the compostable bags do not break down in this time. The leaflet that was given to people clearly states what you can use. The collection vehicles do not have the facilities to wash the bins and it has never been part of the deal. Of course if you put loose food in the big bin it will stick to it. As for the seconod complainant, lets get it right his bin was not "missed" it was not collected becasue he used a liner that he was not supposed to full stop. Read the leaflet it really is not that dificult.
There are paper bin liners, I have seen them in Tescos I am sure others will follow or wrap food up in newspaper as suggested. There are 120,00 people in Gloucester the vast majority are using the new recycling system and finding that it works for them.
Realise recycling is a business just becasue something can be recycled does not mean the council have a contract to deal with these items, either because there is no more money or they have not found a suitable contractor. I have been amazed since this started by some peoples ignorance and lack of social responsibilty and the belief that everything should be done for them.”

“When the brown bins arrived we bought some of the 100% Bio-Degradable bags from Tesco, with a picture of the brown bin on the front (At twice the price of normal bags). Because we try to recycle anyway and have no newspapers delivered and use the internet for news. Our bin was not collected because we had a 100% bio-degradable bag in today, so tomorrow we are giving the bin back as we have no newspaper so the bin is pointless. Gloucester tried shame they failed it was a nice ish idea.”

“You lot need to calm down... I think this guy is right to complain... I agree... if the service is there to clean the bins then that's what should happen... if we're going to recycle then it should be done properly... don't swear at him and tell him to clean it himself... it isn't his job, whyy should he do it??? If these council people can take half the rubbish whyy can't they take ALL of it”