Recycling Rules & Regs

The council website’s Recycling section answers questions on virtually every aspect of the service. You may download collection information for your road if you are new to the area and get guidance on most aspects of the service. What isn’t so clear is who the various bins belong to, and flowing from that who is responsible for them. However I can answer that; I have an email from the council that makes it absolutely clear that the bins belong to them. This raises some interesting questions. It means that the News Shopper stories about council bin men stealing householder’s bins is a bit of a nonsense. How can they steal something which belongs to them anyway?

When a bin man returns a bin to the path or road or to the wrong property and the householder fails to retrieve it, how can the householder be pursued over that? The bin isn’t his and he didn’t put it there. It’s the council’s responsibility from every point of view. If a blind man trips over it, well it was the council who left their own property in the road.

While Bexley council operates a fairly benign refuse policy these questions remain largely academic, but I don’t see how they can reasonably charge for replacement of their own property if it goes missing - very probably due to their own activities.

Having said that, the Recycling part of the council’s website is really rather good. A pity the collection schedule puts my uniquely named road in the wrong part of town!

October 2009

Bexley Council is Bonkers - Comment