Wheelie Bin Collection: Everything You Need To Know

GOVERNMENT WHEELIE BIN COLLECTION SCHEDULES

Only one in six councils offer wheelie bin collection on a weekly basis. The majority of others have adopted a fortnightly schedule and the trend indicates that the local councils will reduce the frequency of collections in the near future.

This is already the case for some areas, such as Falkirk and Conwy, who have monthly collections and there are 15 other areas in the UK which have collections every three weeks.

The government is focused on reducing how often bins are collected for two key reasons. The first is that they believe that it will encourage the public to recycle more and throw away less. They hope that people will recognise that if their bins are collected less frequently that their bins will overflow and start to smell if they continue to fill them up at the same rate.

This might be true and some households may be able to reduce their waste output in response to this. However, some residencies simply will not be able to reduce how much they need to throw away and now have overflowing bins on a consistent basis.

The second reason is that the government likely do not have the resources and economic power to comfortably afford a nationwide weekly wheelie bin collection service.

These two reasons combined is bad news for certain households. Large families and cohabiting professionals (big waste producers), for instance, will likely not be able to reduce their waste production enough to not have their bins collected less than once a week. But the government will simply not service these households more than once a fortnight because they can’t afford it.

As such, these households will be subject to overflowing and smelly bins and will need to seek a private household waste collection service to empty their bins on alternative weeks to their local council.

To check when your wheelie bin collection days are for your local area use this handy tool here by entering your postcode.

A Brief History of the Wheelie Bin

The modern-day wheelie bin as we know it was invented in 1968 by a company based in Slough. But the inspiration for the design was from the observations of a Health and Safety Inspector who identified the potential to reduce spine problems of bin collectors who had to drag around bins which had no wheels, were heavy and made out of metal. (More information here).

Then, in the late 1980s, waste trucks were kitted out with automatic mechanisms to pick up and empty the modern-day wheelie bin.

The future for bin collections

A new technology and waste operation scheme has been developed and after being trialled in Cambridge it has made its way to parts of London. Essentially, stainless steel chutes are assembled underneath the pavement which feeds into large underground chambers.

Citizens will put their waste down these chutes and once the chamber is filled, an inbuilt sensor notifies the local council who then dispatch a specialist waste truck which lifts the chamber out of the ground and empties it into the truck.

Benefits to a Private Wheelie Bin Collection Service

As alluded to earlier in this Wheelie Bin Collection guide, the councils pretty much no longer provide a weekly waste disposal service. But a private rubbish collection service can provide this for you by collecting on alternative weeks to your council.

This has two immediate benefits:

• Your bins won’t overfill and so won’t be an eye-soar or hazard
• Your waste won’t sit there to rot and smell in between collections

A private waste service can also provide you with additional bins so that you can recycle your food waste and glass waste for instance. This will benefit the environment tremendously. In our ‘Private Rubbish Collection: The Complete 2020 Guide’ we discuss how useful and beneficial having separate additional bins are in more detail.

But essentially its because it reduces how much of your waste goes to landfill and instead your waste can be used to create new materials such as biofuel.

So, the environmental benefit is a really motivating factor for deciding to use a private wheelie bin collection service.

Who Benefits Most From More Frequent Wheelie Bin Collections

There are two main groups who benefit the most from a private waste service.

The first is large families. These households are made up 4 or more family members from multiple generations who all live in the same residency. They produce large amounts of waste each week and having to wait a fortnight for each government wheelie bin collection is simply not enough for them to live comfortably.

And one missed collection could spell disaster for them as they would have a months worth of waste stockpiled by their bins. Just imagine the smell!

The second is cohabiting professionals. These households are made up of multiple working people house-sharing. They also produce a lot of waste because they rarely share common food shop items such as Milk as they have different preferences in their purchasing decisions. We explain how this can cause more waste in detail on this post here.

Having more frequent collections for this group will be really useful because of the amount of waste they produce.

A third, less obvious, group which benefits greatly from a private wheelie bin collection service are those who care for the environment. We have discussed the positive effects of having additional bins for different types of waste earlier in this guide and because it is such a significant benefit, we found that at PBC we have customers who use our services purely for the environmental reasons.

Why PBC is Perfect For You

PBC is a fully licensed private rubbish collection service set up to specifically help households in Leeds, Bradford, and Birmingham. We understand your household waste needs and have a team dedicated to help you effectively manage your rubbish without any hassle. 

Contact us today and we can advise you on the best services available to you so that you no longer have to deal with overfilled smelly bins whilst reducing your carbon footprint. 

Get a free quote from our team today!