Love Thy Neighbour

Love Thy Neighbour- And Don’t Put Rubbish in Their Bin!

If you’ve gone to town on food and presents over Christmas, you’ll find that your bins will be much fuller than usual. When you’ve fit as much as you can into your bin, have you ever been tempted to sneak a bag of rubbish into a neighbour’s bin? It might be convenient for you, but is it legal? 

Public comments

An online forum on the moneysaving expert website was debating the issue. One user asked if putting your rubbish in someone else’s bin was illegal. The answer is that it’s a form of antisocial behaviour and it’s technically illegal as it’s classed as fly-tipping.

The problem of the ‘closed lid’ policy

One resident in Gloucester was dismayed to find that his bin had not been emptied because the lid was open less than an inch. Someone had put rubbish in his bin overnight when it was left out for collection, and this caused the lid to pop open as the bin was full to the brim. Refuse collectors then refused to take it.

This is the sort of council policy that has angered residents, who are increasingly being fined for overfilling their bins or putting the wrong items in the recycling. They see no logic in punishing people for filling their bins but failing to help them to cut down on waste in the first place.

When dumping waste is a crime

The following are against the law, and you can report them via Crimestoppers:

• Waste being labelled incorrectly on purpose, for example containers of waste not being labelled as hazardous when they are
• Running a waste dumping site without an official permit
• Exporting waste illegally
• Fly-tipping

Work it out with your neighbour

Ideally, any problems among neighbours should be worked out between you, by either removing the offending bags from your neighbour’s bin or them removing their waste from your bin. It’s far better to amicably sort out the matter between you than involve the authorities, which might get you or your neighbour a warning or a fine.