By Steve Stratford, Deputy Editor
Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear... It seems, judging by the barrage of correspondence we've had from readers this week, that Conwy County Council's latest kerbside recycling scheme has failed miserably before it's barely started.
We've heard from residents in Llandudno who got their bins without being told what on earth they were for. We've had Glanywdden residents telling us they'd been told the recycling scheme was starting imminently, but not given any boxes to use. And people trying to keep on top of their plastic recycling - which Conwy doesn't do for us - have been frustrated by the bad organisation at recycling sites such as Llandudno Asda, Junction Tesco and Llanrwst Somerfield.
How often have you taken some recycling to the "bring banks" (as Conwy likes to call them) only to find them already bulging and overflowing? What do you do? Do you leave your rubbish on the ground at the side, or do you put it back in your car boot and try another time?
To be honest, why should you have to take your recycling all the way back home if you've been responsible enough to take an active and voluntary part in the greater recycling drive? It's a simple matter of supply and demand, basic economics. The council should be monitoring how much waste the public is recycling at each individal site (and there are over 60 of them) and making sure each site is emptied at its optimum time.
Which looks increasingly like it's at the weekend, or early Monday morning. Conwy council admitted this week it had been taken by surprise just how quickly the public had started recyling plastic, but I wonder why they are so surprised when they don't include plastics as part of the kerbside collection scheme. Surely this gaffe could have been foreseen and prevented, or at least alleviated a little until proper demand levels were worked out?
I have been recycling my household waste voluntarily for a number of years by using the various public recycling centres across the county. But if Conwy County Council can't organise its own rubbish collection service, or inform the public properly as to how to go about things, what hope do we have?
If you have any problems with the waste and recycling collection service, please let us know via the usual channels.
PS: I did hesitate naming this Blog entry "A rubbish collection service", but where's the real harm in recycling old newspaper cliches...?
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