Stephen Psallidas Newcastle upon Tyne Dec 11, 2011 18:35 pm

I am an elected councillor in Newcastle, UK. We have a system where 2 good-sized 'wheeled' bins are provided to each household - one for their recycling, and one for their 'residual' waste. The bins are placed in the back lane which runs behind streets, and are emptied there by the wagons. This works well, except for one thing - virtually no-one brings their bins back into their house after collection!!! They simply stay there semi-permanently.

Why is this a problem?

(a) it creates a real visual eyesore
(b) it allows burglars to use them to climb over boundary walls into residents' rear yards
(c) bins are regularly set on fire by vandals, costing the Fire Service tens of thousands annually in 'event' callouts, plus the cost of bin replacement.
(d) it causes blockage for emergency services if they need to access houses from the rear in a real emergency.

We have tried to tackle this through straightforward but resource-intensive 'education' campaigns, which tend to work for a short period and then the effect gradually tails off, ending up in the same situation again.

The problem is exacerbated by the fact that there is a very high turnover of residents in the neighbourhood, specifically students.

Has anyone got any 'initial' obvious ideas for how to try and tackle this through CBSM?

Thanks,

Steve

Stephen Psallidas
United Kingdom