It is Recycling Week again. Many of the people who read this page will live in Westminster, where our park is located*.  Every borough has slightly different recycling requirements but Westminster has it’s own particular issues related to the transient nature of a proportion of its occupants in the more central areas. The different wards of the borough cannot have tailor made routines for individual needs, so the council tries to make it easier for residents by providing mixed recycling  collections across the borough. Improvements and trials are happening on a weekly basis to address the changing habits of our communities.

It’s always handy to check their online guide if you are unsure about what to do with an item of rubbish and they have produced these helpful flyers too.

Fly tipping is a big problem in our area and whilst it is easy to get angry at people’s lack of consideration or even exploitation, some older members of the community or visitors from places who deal with rubbish differently, put certain items on the street in the genuine belief that the bin men will take them, like they used to many, many years ago!  There are a multitude of reasons why it is impractical to do that nowadays some of which are financially based out of consideration for most residents.

For instance, the vehicles that collect our black bags are not designed to crunch down larger items that may also contain toxic elements.  Furthermore, if those trucks fill up with larger items they have to return to base for emptying sooner than they should, which means additional journeys to collect the rest of the black bags in the streets, costing more time, fuel and vehicle wear & tear. It is for this reason they have a fleet of special vehicles for the big or specialist things but they do not think it is fair for everyone to pay for running these trucks, so they make a charge if there are bulky items to collect (book one here). So when you see fly tipping in your street, it is not only unsightly but the cost of removing it is impacting on your pocket – money that could be better spent elsewhere in the community.

If you are fed up to see items dumped on your street (or any issue that needs the council’s attention), the revamped reporting portal allows you to pinpoint the problem on a map and do so without bothering to log in. It is also available as an app for your phone (scroll down for the links).

Finally, if you have something you no longer need but might be useful to someone else, think about swapping it with friends or you can attend one of Westminster’s popular Give & Take events. Check the events portal here.

*Brent Recycling site.

Kensington and Chelsea site.