WHILST re-cycling is an entirely laudable arrangement, which I entirely support, the way Bury MBC have gone about this demonstrates bad planning which is likely to lead to serious problems.
The first major problem is caused by the decision to collect non-recyclable rubbish every other week. Ratepayers pay the council to collect refuse each week, not as and when they feel like doing it.
Families are likely to have smelling, overflowing bins halfway through the second week. The result is going to be bins left outside houses with the lids propped open by the increased amount of rubbish.
Rats are attracted by human excrement and rotting food and rats carry a number of very nasty diseases including leptospirosis (otherwise known as Weils disease) which is frequently fatal. The disease comes from rats' urine which they discharge frequently.
The black boxes supplied for bottles, cans and plastics are equally badly thought-out. If the boxes are full of bottles, elderly and infirm people will have difficulty in carrying them. The lids are loose and are likely to be blown off, and the bins are black and hard to see at night.
As a solicitor specialising in personal injury claims I anticipate a number of accidents caused by these black boxes. In my opinion any claims will lie not against the householder who has put out the box, but against the local authority for supplying defective boxes.
The council should think these matters through properly and anticipate such problems. They should not have put a half-baked scheme like this into operation. I would ask the council to immediately reinstate weekly refuse collections of non-recyclable rubbish and to provide recycling boxes that are designed to avoid the present problems.
AUBREY ISAACSON
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