Greenpeace recently presented a petition to Parliament in New Zealand calling on the government to ban the use of single-use plastic bags.  It is estimated that residents of New Zealand use 1.6 billion plastics bags each year which is bad for the environment.  Greenpeace have been advising on how people can avoid the use of plastics bags.

This months wheelie bin headlines include stories from residents in Tendring calling for a change in recycling to help tackle the impact plastic is having on the environment, a pensioner from Oban has barricaded his home with wheelie bins to stop vans from parking there and residents in Newark could be receiving smaller bins for their household waste.

Wheelie bins are used on a daily basis, whether it be at home or in the workplace, but do you know how they are made?  Wheelie bins are made using injection mouldings, making the plastics bins very durable and resistant to most damage.  

Stories this week include a social media backash from residents in Renfrewshire about cold weather collections, 28000 residents in Liverpool do not have wheelie bins and instead are given bags and finally waste management in Bristol have reported there have been a number of bins going missing from outside homes and have said they have had more than 650 requests for new bins in 4 weeks.

Stories that have appeared in January include Conwy Council in North Wales introducing monthly bin collections, a Tesco Superstore in Stroud may have their recycling area withdrawn due to business and others are flytipping in the containers and wheelie bin manufacturers in Australia heading to court over the use of some confidential drawings.

Stories in this weeks Wheelie Bin Roundup feature an unusual way on how a council chose the colour of their wheelie bins, a warning to residents in Warrington to discard batteries in the correct manor and a story about residents blocking a street with wheelie bins to stop bad parking on school runs.

Aside from our usual stories about wheelie bin arson, thefts and other common occurences, we have featured 3 stories that appeared in the news that made us laugh as well as leaving us scratching our head at the same time. 

A community centre in New Zealand has begun using a new solar powered wheelie bin lifter for glass recycling.  The machine lifts the wheelie bins that are full of glass and tips them into a storage container, these are then taken away to be manufactured into new glass.  

If you think council bin regulations in the UK are tough and confusing, residents of Christchurch, New Zealand have forked out over $50,000 this year alone from flouting local bin laws, if your bin is stolen or damaged it is free to get a replacement so long as it is reported within 24 hours, but many residents do not know this and are paying up to $132 a time for a new bin.

One of our stories this week features an amuising story put forward by Bromley Council who are suggesting that for christmas you could get your loved ones a new wheelie bin with a years worth of garden waste collections or even vouchers to go towards this service.