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You know the ones, somebody puts rubbish in a bin that they bought out of their taxes, pay to have emptied out of their taxes and then get fined for using it in "the wrong manner"! But this story has another level or two worth noting. A couple of between the lines issues that we will now try to uncover and explain. The situation on the face of it is that Michael Reeves, a 28-year old sports journalist with a local newspaper, decided that recycling was the way to go for him. Willing and able to do his bit to save the environment, he began to separate his rubbish into different bags. One for bottles and cans and one for all other waste. Not a model of recycling but a good start! Now, having already been served with an official enforcement notice warning him for leaving his bin outside his property on the wrong day - he left it out a day early as he was going on holiday the next day and did not want the bin standing full and attracting rats for two weeks whilst he was away - Mr Reeves was had no doubts that the local council were pretty hot on "refuse issues" and certainly took things in this area very seriously indeed!
To cut a long story short, a dustbin man found a piece of paper inside the bag Mr Reeves had set aside for bottles and cans and promptly reported him to the local council. The council chose to take Mr Reeves to court and the court agreed that a £200 fine was in order for improper use of the council recycling service. Now, call me crackers, but the following seems to be a no-brainer: You buy the bins, you buy the rubbish, you put the rubbish in the bins and you pay the council to collect it. The council decide that recycling has to become a priority so they set up massive recycling plants that get through huge amounts of energy in heating, lighting, plant and machinery, not to mention the energy used for all of those people to get to work in the first place. To cover the huge cost of this, the council tax is increased accordingly. Now you are paying for the bins, the rubbish, the collection AND the recycling...Phew...At least you do not have to actually recycle your rubbish yourself though, so that's alright... WHAT?!??! You want me to recycle the rubbish myself?! So, now you are paying for the bins, the rubbish, the collection AND the recycling but now you are actually sorting out the rubbish into separate bags or bins before it goes to the recycling plant, the cost of which is still being paid for by your council tax. Now here comes the really twisty-turny part... The councils have been, as we have extensively reported, installing "spy chips" into our dustbins (which people have decided, en masse, to rip out again!). These are to be used for various applications one of which will be to check that you are not generating too much household refuse without "doing your bit" on the recycling front. If you are deemed to not be "doing your bit", you will be fined. To recap: You pay for the bins, the rubbish, the collection, the recycling whilst actually doing a good deal of the recycling yourself AND the RFID chips in the bins. Your council then decides that you have made a mistake and managed to get a whole sheet of paper in with your bottles and cans rubbish and you get a £200 fine. But if you do not do enough recycling you will be liable for a fine anyway. Damned if you don't and damned if you do but make a slight mistake... But, it get worse! Local councils have been told that they have to enforce a rule of one collection per fortnight and not one per week during the winter months as the cold weather will ensure that the bins do not smell and the vermin are not around anyway. The slightly longer term plan is to not reintroduce weekly collections once the summer months return. Ready for this?! Now you pay for the bins, the rubbish, the collection although there will only be half as many, the recycling whilst actually doing a good deal of the recycling yourself, the RFID chips in the bins and the fines for recycling but getting it ever so slightly wrong or the fines for not recycling enough... ...and how much of our council tax will we be getting back due to the loss of service that we will see and the massive increase in fines collected? Place your bets ladies and gentlemen!
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| Thursday 18th October 2006 | The Daily Mail Original article entitled "Man fined £200 for putting paper in wrong recycling bin" | link | |
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But an eagle-eyed council official thought differently after he spotted a rogue sheet of paper in a bag reserved for bottles and cans. And because Mr Reeves had previously committed the "offence" of putting his rubbish out a day early - despite him going on holiday the day after - there was only one thing for it. The council took him to court, where he was ordered to pay a £200 fine. Last night there were fears that by taking the case to court, Swansea County Council would discourage people from recycling at all. And the action has fuelled criticism that complicated new recycling rules are being used by councils as an excuse to make money. A furious Mr Reeves described the fine as "beyond belief" and says it has now put him off recycling in case he makes a mistake. The 28-year-old said: "It is just ridiculous. I wanted to re-cycle because it is the right thing to do, but if it is going to land me in court with a £200 fine, I won't bother anymore. "The whole case has been a complete waste of time and public money. It is a total and utter farce which will dissuade people from recycling." Mr Reeves, a sports journalist for his local newspaper, was first reprimanded the Welsh council in April after he put his rubbish out a day before leaving for a two-week break. "I thought it made sense," he explained, "It seemed a better idea than leaving it in my house for a fortnight, attracting rats." But he was served with an "enforcement notice" warning him to obey strict rubbish collection rules. Two months later, a rubbish collector spotted a piece of paper in a recycling bag reserved for bottles and cans. Under Swansea's strict system, paper can be recycled - but only if it is in a separate bag. And instead of removing the single piece of junk mail, the whole "contaminated" bag was taken to a landfill site rather than being recycled. Mr Reeves later received a court summons, and although he denied putting the paper in the bag, magistrates found in favour of the council and ordered him to pay a fine of £100 plus £100 in costs. Last night environmental groups condemned the court action which they believe could discourage families from making efforts to recycle. Friends of the Earth spokesman Julian Rosser explained: "This person was prosecuted for a one-off offence which was very very minor and that sends out entirely the wrong message." A spokesman for Swansea Council insisted it was increasing efforts to educate people about recycling. He added: "We would urge householders to follow the simple steps printed on their recycling bags so that the correct waste goes in the appropriate bag. Legal action is the last resort." Earlier this month, it was revealed that powers to fine those who dump rubbish have earned £2million for councils in the six months since the Clean Neighbourhoods And Environment Act came into force. It was also revealed that fortnightly rubbish collections are to be forced on millions by a backdoor campaign. Town hall chiefs have been told to end weekly visits by the binmen in winter - so that the cold weather keeps down the smell and vermin. The hope is that by the summer, when the odours and rats return, it will be too late to bring back once-a-week collections. |
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