Forum Topic

Food Bins - A health Hazard?

What a disgusting sight this morning to see the mess in some of the food bins which had been left out for collection!I feel sorry for the AMEY employee having to tip the food scraps into a large blue wheelie bin. The small of rotting food, would make one feel nauseous.Bins were not lined or the food wrapped so the empty bins were covered in flies!Surely this is a health hazard? Are people too lazy to dispose of food scraps properly?  Can you imagine having to empty these things?It was a relief when I looked inside my own food bin to see it was very clean, I will then wash it out with Dettol ready for the next time.Please spare a thought on how to dispose of food scraps properly

Jean F Fernandez ● 3210d21 Comments

Any garbage standing around for any length of time is a health risk.

Joanna Corbett ● 3098d

'As for waste and where it goes. On several occasions I have worked with a team which has physically tracked where waste actually goes. From contaminated earth removed from the Olympic site, to residential food waste and general waste.'It's been pretty well documented both by TV and Newspapers which revealed that it is all smoke and mirrors and mucky big business. ' That's very interesting Mark. Do we have anything to be concerned about with regard to the current arrangements in this borough?

Andy Jones ● 3098d

Thank you for that. The re-use of wood waste for heating in a commercial premnises would generally be motivated by doing something good for the environment rather than having any commercial motivation. One place I know produced a lot of wood waste, however, the cost of the special heating equipment and in particular the town hall bureaucracy and permits required to operate this equipment in a commercial premises made it not worthwhile. You can throw a special domestic wood burner into any house for a domestic application without planning permission, or operating permits, however, the moment you try and do this in a commerical premises the costs and bureaucracy multiply.

Joanna Corbett ● 3108d

Waste for businesses can be much harder to sort as the waste they have may not fit into the same categories as household waste.  A waste audit is needed to see what sort of waste is made and how and whether any or all of this can be diverted.  For instance if you are woodworking business you may be able to divert small offcuts and/or sawduct towards heating your premises.  You may want to use a company who will sort a lot of your waste or you may want to use separated collections.At one time there was a free collection of cooking oil for businesses which encouraged them to recycle that and also kept it out of the sewage system.There was also a reduced price for commercial garden waste taken to the appropriate Waste & Recycling site.  (Vans and commercial aren't allowed at Stirling Road.)Mixed waste cost more than twice as much per tonne to be disposed of than separated waste - so that is where the incentive is.  Reducing it, Reusing it, Repairing it, and Repurposing it means that you reduce disposal costs.  Living on credit means that we are able to change the colour of our bathroom suites or kitchens just on a whim and not just because they are broken and don't work!

Philippa Bond ● 3108d

That's one of the reasons that quite a few Councils are taking the collections back in-house.  They want to have more control over what happens and be able to make sure they can improve the service to suit their Council Tax payers rather than simply allowing the big waste companies to dictate all the terms.There is the occasional expose of something that has gone wrong.  The Environment Agency for instance recently stopped another illegal cargo of electricals being exported. Regarding the food waste system - using it makes the remainder in the residual waste less smelly and allows you to tweak your eating/cooking/buying/storing habits to waste less and save money.

Philippa Bond ● 3109d

We do use the food waste. It's the constant clearing up and mess from collection that is tiresome.As for waste and where it goes. On several occasions I have worked with a team which has physically tracked where waste actually goes. From contaminated earth removed from the Olympic site, to residential food waste and general waste.It's been pretty well documented both by TV and Newspapers which revealed that it is all smoke and mirrors and mucky big business.  But not what we all like to think happens. There is no facility for physically monitoring every movement, the environment agency does it's best but is hopelessly under resourced to keep on top of it. Plus the rake offs and closed deals make it very hard to get to the bottom of. The same goes on with contracts in the NHS with maintenance. Has done for decades. Unethical but not illegal in most cases. But when it comes to taxpayers money and the benefit of the whole of society, laws need tightening.Trouble is the easy option of hitting the end user is always taken rather than tackle the institutionalised gravy train.

Mark Kehoe ● 3109d

Ms. Bond, do Ealing businesses have to recycle, or do they just have to use a licensed carrier to take the stuff away?

Joanna Corbett ● 3111d

Even small businesses have to comply.Have a look at this:http://www.resourceefficientscotland.com/regulations

Philippa Bond ● 3111d

LBE's contract for food waste used to be with these people - the website seems to think that it still is:http://www.biogen.co.uk/

Philippa Bond ● 3114d

It is far better to be separating out and recycling the food waste WEEKLY than mixing it with the fortnightly collection of black sack/black wheelie bin waste and leaving that to putrify in containers that can't be manoeuvred.  There are currently food waste collections all over the country and more are due to be rolled out.  Why aren't you using this system?https://www.recyclenow.com/recycling-knowledge/food-recycling

Philippa Bond ● 3114d

Where did you get that information from and is that your excuse for not using the food waste collection?Last time I looked LBE's food waste was being sent to an anaerobic digestion plant.  They say it still is.  However they are now sending mixed recycling to an MRF for sorting - and it is worrying that the information regarding Aylesford Newsprint still hasn't changed as I expected that to happen months and months ago.Food waste needs to be separated out from other recycling as it contaminates it.  The paper and cardboard companies complain about the mixed recycling that we now do as the quality received from MRFs is much worse that kerbside sorted.https://www.ealing.gov.uk/info/201171/recycling_services/276/what_happens_to_your_recycling

Philippa Bond ● 3114d

Where do you think the food waste really ends up?Much of the recovered domestic food waste is too toxic and cannot be relied on being fit for recycling and it costs more to incinerate than the energy it releases.Most of it goes to landfill.However, as it is organic waste it eventually breaks down and the toxic content converts to organic matter which helps break down the other landfill waste and effectively turns to fertile soil.  It's a very slow process because of the unknown toxins whereas when one composts food waste it can be controlled.With baby waste and other not very palatable wastes getting chucked in food waste boxes and a lot of very careless users of waste facilities, the whole ethos of recycling is now in a bad place. Confusion and misinformation having taken over.

Mark Kehoe ● 3114d

Wait till next Summer.  If we have a hot one the general stench will be ghastly and, of course, the health hazards will return......bit like when they started this unhealthy idea.

Sarah Vickers ● 3116d

With the drop in temperature the management of these should now be much easier.  I'm still looking for a net cover big enough for my fruit bowl though so it is easier to allow fruit to ripen in a fruit bowl without attracting fruit flies - or rather allowing them to land!  Those meat safes of the past could well make a come-back.

Philippa Bond ● 3116d

I am not sure of the size of Ealing food waste bins but Hounslow have a small work surface style one and a larger one to put out into the street.  Using the work surface one encourages people to line the smaller waste bin or bag the waste then place it in the bigger bin.  I got fed up hosing the larger bin out and after some thought realised I could take the top shelf out of the dishwasher and put it through a quick wash (having rescued the insect life residing under the lip of the bin).  Primark paper bags make great bin liners!

Sarah Felstead ● 3116d

I wrap the waste is paper.Using dedicated food bins is surely better that chuck the food in with the normal landfill waste right?

Paul James ● 3201d

Re. availability of newspaper for use in food bins.  The Ealing Gazette is free, to pick up from many local shops. Some might even suggest that using the EG to wrap scrap food is all that it is good for these days, but I couldn't possibly comment.

Aubrey Houseman ● 3203d

It became more difficult to find newspaper and I had to ask a neighbour a couple of times but have now found a regular supply.It is important to try and keep your food waste bin closed and out of the sun - especially when it is as warm as it is at the moment.You should be able to reduce the amount of food waste that you make as you will easily see what it is that you are wasting.  Consequently you can save quite a lot of money and make less waste to have to deal with.www.lovefoodhatewaste.com is full of information on portion sizes, left-over recipes, food labelling changes, and food management - store-cupboard essentials and rescue recipes etc.

Philippa Bond ● 3203d

Denys, when they first arrived they came with a few biodegradable bags.When my supply was finished I just used newspaper to line the bin and I also wrap small amounts of food waste in newspaper which works very well.Surely this is a simple measure?  Food uncovered attracts flies and maggots, not to mention foxes and rats if the boxes are not securely shut.

Jean F Fernandez ● 3210d

I do remember reading that the food recycling boxes should be lined, and that one can use newspaper, so it's not as if anyone has to fork out for special lining bags.  Frankly, it's just another example of thoughtless laziness.I recently had to jump through a few hoops to get a box, eventually asking my very helpful councillor to get the "system" overridden to I could have one.  When it arrived it didn't come with any instruction about lining, but surely common sense would suggest to people to line them, so still no excuse.

Denys Mace ● 3210d

Yes Jean,a serious health hazard,to all not just the collectors,John.

Dr John Stolworthy D.Sc ● 3210d