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Open and shut case
HOMEOWNERS who overfill their wheelie bins could find the extra rubbish dumped in their driveways.
Binmen have been instructed by Macclesfield Borough Council not to take away rubbish if the bin lid is raised more than 45 degrees.
"We go for a closed lid policy," said waste officer Paul Morgan.
"If the lid is up, we give it back to them and leave the extra bag beside the bin."
A father-of-three from Yewlands Drive in Knutsford climbs into his bin every fortnight to flatten the rubbish so the lid will close.
"I have a board that I put on the top and fully stand on to compress the waste down," said Daniel Haberfield.
He and his wife Nicola asked the council for a bigger bin.
However they still struggle to fit in all their non-recyclable rubbish and on Friday their bin lid was raised by a couple of inches.
"We do recycle," said Mr Haberfield, 43.
"We've got masses of cardboard out there now. But why don't they recycle plastic?
"We must go through a four pint carton a day. That's 14 a fortnight."
Irene Wise, 70, said she ensured her bin lid was fully closed after hearing about the Cumbrian man who was prosecuted by Copeland Borough Council for overfilling his bin.
Gareth Corkhill, 26, of Whitehaven, was left with a bill for £225.
"There are only two of us so it's all right but I can imagine a lot of families are struggling," said Mrs Wise. Mr Morgan said he had received requests for bigger bins but only families of five or more would get one.
"The standard bin size, for a family of four who are recycling, is big enough," he said.
"We don't consider others unless there is some other reason for generating a lot of rubbish, such as a medical reason."
Macclesfield Borough Council has not yet prosecuted anyone for overfilling their bins, nor has it issued any fines.
"We try to work with the householder to avoid doing that," said Mr Morgan.
"If someone really continued not to co-operate we would have no choice but to resort to taking enforcement action."
Binman Carl Redclift, 37, who was collecting rubbish in Knutsford on Friday morning, said he often emptied wheelie bins that were slightly overfilled.
"We don't mind too much if they're overfilled," he said.
10:31am Tuesday 6th May 2008
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CommentPosted by: Andrew, Knutsford on 12:35pm Tue 6 May 08
If people really are filling their bins to overflow, they need to be assessing what the are putting in. Recycling isn't enough to reduce waste.
Remember Reduce, Re-use then Re-cycle.
We only fill our bin to less than half every fortnight, but our recycling bins are often full.
We take our plastic bottles and cartons to Tesco in Handforth, when we go shopping, as Macclesfield BC don't recycle these yet.
If people really are filling their bins to overflow, they need to be assessing what the are putting in. Recycling isn't enough to reduce waste.
Remember Reduce, Re-use then Re-cycle.
We only fill our bin to less than half every fortnight, but our recycling bins are often full.
We take our plastic bottles and cartons to Tesco in Handforth, when we go shopping, as Macclesfield BC don't recycle these yet.
Posted by: Mobberley Logs, Mobberley on 12:15pm Wed 7 May 08
Thank god for a sensible comment from the binman on the front line.
I've tried several times to order a sack for carton recycling to no avail, and my compost bin took over 4 months to be delivered.
I can't help Mac Council would be better off spending more of our money on a decent service, rather than unproductive enforcement measures and "Waste Officers."
Whatever they do.
Thank god for a sensible comment from the binman on the front line.
I've tried several times to order a sack for carton recycling to no avail, and my compost bin took over 4 months to be delivered.
I can't help Mac Council would be better off spending more of our money on a decent service, rather than unproductive enforcement measures and "Waste Officers."
Whatever they do.
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