Mr. Biggins

Most Local Authorities South that went down the 'fortnightly collection' route only did so to bump up their recycling rates, because it effectively made recycling mandatory - if you wanted to get rid of ALL your rubbish, you had to recycle. Now that there's no govt. financial incentive for high recycling they're all backtracking. Besides, up here there's a Waste-to-Energy plant that needs all the rubbish it can get. Can't see a fortnightly collection happening. The recycling effort, and the composting, only really affects the domestic collection...there's still the collection from commercial premises too. It's a wonder the Council don't put their collection statistics online...

And as far as disrespect goes, maybe, Staney Dale, you'd like to reconsider your opening sweeping generalization in this exchange?

Going back to my original post, two weeks of missed collection might not be a big deal for you, but the guys on the Kert will then have to lift THREE weeks of rubbish in ONE week...I'm not sure that's reasonable at all.

Did I say because they were office based they were dead-wood? No. I merely inferred that many of the office-based positions may be less than essential. Whereas, and I may be going out on a limb here, but I suspect not, a week or two without a waste collection would prove how essential a service the Essy Kerts provide.

If they weren't to collect over the weekends during the Festive, wouldn't they end up with 3 weeks of rubbish to collect in one go? 3 of the most waste-intensive weeks of the year, at that? I'm not sure the trucks could hold it all, and if they ended up running late it'd all work out the same, overtime-wise, anyway. I'm fairly sure every council employee can take TOIL if they want anyway, and have been able to for years. I'd imagine the guys on the kerts get little enough without being denied a Festive extra. Let alone one they get by putting in a few hours they'd rather spend at home this time of year. Before you go discussing the wages these guys get, saving-wise, when they're a frontline service of actual worth, maybe the dead-wood in the offices would be a more worthy target?

Yes, Local Authorities absolutely have to provide a waste collection, but they can also specify how waste is to be presented for collection, and choose not to collect if your chosen method doesn't comply. But as far as I'm aware, Shetland-wide wheely-bins aren't really on the cards, are they?

I'm not sure how collecting twice the rubbish in half the time would be at all possible? And how would that work with the Waste to Energy plant? Fortnightly collections only "saved" money South while the Govt. financially incentivised recycling rates, and they were seen as a way of pushing folk to recycle more, many Local Authorities South are backtracking and have brought back weekly collections. I think if you have a bin now, it's your responsibility. If The Council doled out more, I'd imagine they'd still be your responsibility. I'm fairly sure you don't hold The Council responsible for the upkeep of your free bin bags once you get them? And yes, stupid people ARE the cause of most of the mess. But buying a bin is a solution to the problem. You don't have to be too clever to figure it out, and the results can't be argued with. As for the aesthetics of the bin, and purely on a personal note, I'd rather see wheely bins on our road for a few hours every day than drifts of litter that no-one takes responsibility for. But that's my preference, and I can only speak for myself.

It's probably escaped your notice thus far, but it looks like The Council already has, at least, 3 Essy Kerts with the gubbins to handle Wheely Bins - They're already using them in Lerwick, and South, and probably other places too. You just have to look at the cleanliness of some of Lerwick's previously litter-strewn streets on collection day to see the positive difference they're making, and as far as I'm aware, nobody's been killed, maimed or disfigured by them in the two or so years they've been on the go, even in the "exposed" South Mainland. As far as saving money goes, The Council's under no obligation to provide, free of charge, ANY waste container for our use. It IS, though, entirely empowered under the Environmental Protection Act... http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1990/43/section/46 ...to stipulate which containers we use if we want them (or their contractors) to collect our waste. A quick glance at The Council's own website... http://www.shetland.gov.uk/waste/Purchasewheeliebinblackbags.asp ...and a little bit of a sum, will tell you that the cost of black bags over three years would easily outweigh the cost of providing a wheely-bin. And when you consider that The Council has to replace vehicles as they get old and knackered, they'll probably be replacing old stock with wheely-bin capable trucks, financially, at least, the future has to be wheely-bin shaped. Oh, and as far as securing a bin against the elements is concerned...I'm sure I saw these for sale at a Lerwick retailer... http://www.andeng.co.uk/pages/content.asp?PageID=72