Garbage fascists

We have a great garbage collection service here in Cardiff and it all seems pretty flexible and aimed at providing a good customer service. The guys are cheerful and they actually run down the road collecting rubbish.

We have a black wheelie bin for collecting unrecyclable waste and a green one for compostable waste including food. To contain the latter, we get free biodegradable bags so no vermin or flies. These bins are collected weekly. Then once a fortnight we put out green plastic bags (again free) for recyclable stuff like glass containers, tin cans, plastics etc. The only ‘no-no’ as I found to my cost are wire coat hangers. They apparently jam up the sorting machinery.

The free bags incidentally are available over the counter at local small shops and in my case that means a 5 minute walk.

We also have a free service to collect large items. Understandably, this is by appointment but all you have to do is put such items out in front of the house on the date agreed. My son and his family live in London and there they charge for it. No wonder ‘fly tipping’ continues in our country lanes.

Sadly the same is not true in many parts of Britain and it is getting worse and in some places nasty. Many councils are considering reducing all waste collection to fortnightly intervals or have even implemented such a policy. Some will fine you if you put so much garbage in the bin that the lid cannot be closed flat. The latest trick is to get us to do their sorting for them. This will be achieved by issuing people with up to seven different coloured containers for various types of garbage. Crikey, I'd have to pin the list to the fridge door to make sure I didn’t make a mistake.

And woe betide you if you do make a mistake or overfill your bin. The Gestapo at the council will descend up you and issue a heavy fine.

This is one of the sad things about Britain today and quite possibly other countries. Cardiff has taken the ‘give them a carrot’ approach but far too many only offer the stick. Paradoxically, the people dreaming up these policies and implementing them are called ‘civil servants’: they are neither.