Wheelie Bin Woes - Wheelie Bin Roundup

Summer 2021 has seen a few months of headlines about wheelie bin woes. That’s what we’re covering in this wheelie bin news roundup. There’s everything from bin collections delayed by the ‘pingdemic’ to trouble caused by bin pests.

Wheelie Bin Woes #1: The Pingdemic

The past few months have seen bins going uncollected in many areas because of the ‘pingdemic.’

As increasing numbers of refuse workers have had to self-isolate, which has left rubbish piling up. 

One area where residents have had their fair share of wheelie bin woes is Chippenham in Wiltshire. Some household waste bin collections were recently cancelled as a number of workers had to isolate. The council tweeted that most missed collections would take place the next day.

Lewisham in London was also affected. Infection rates are still high in South East London, and many refuse staff have had to self-isolate. One resident in New Cross said that rubbish had been piling up for six weeks and was attracting vermin. There was also an increase in fly-tipping because of the delayed bin collections. Lewisham Council condemned the fly-tipping and said it had removed the rubbish.

Further north, wheelie bin woes have also affected the residents of Rotherham. As many as two-fifths of council staff were off sick or self-isolating, which saw garden waste collections suspended. Certainly not ideal during the warmer months when people are tidying up their gardens.

A council spokesperson said it was struggling to maintain the staffing levels to clear the backlog of collections. Garden waste collections won't be available for a little while yet. 

Wheelie Bin Woes #2: Flies In Your Wheelie Bin

Who doesn’t love being outside in the warmer weather? Unless you’re trying to enjoy your outside space and there are flies swarming around your bin, that is.

However, a woman on TikTok says she has found the solution to keeping them out of your wheelie.

The wheelie bin hack involves pouring table salt inside of your empty wheelie after you’ve cleaned it. It works, she says, by soaking up any sticky residue and killing maggots when they feed on it.

Her video had a staggering 4 million views and many commenters said that it’s helped with one of their biggest wheelie bin woes.

Wheelie Bin Woes #3: Seagulls Getting At Your Rubbish

Residents in Gloucester say they are fed up with gulls getting into their rubbish. The birds have been surrounding bins and tearing rubbish bags apart to get at food waste.

One angry resident said that residents in narrow streets can’t have wheelie bins so they have a rubbish bag instead. However, many families find that the bag is not big enough for their waste. The extra bin bags they use get left out on the street, then the hungry gulls come along.

Residents say that their cars are covered in bird poo and others say that the gulls are extremely noisy and cause a disturbance.

Gloucester City Council has approached Natural England in the hope that it will grant a license to reduce the seagull population. All birds are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, so reducing populations requires an appropriate license.

We hope you’ve enjoyed our article on wheelie bin woes. For more articles on all things wheelie bins, check out the rest of our blog.