Beware of the Phantom Bin Stuffers!

Beware of the Phantom Bin Stuffers!

Who’s putting their rubbish in your bin? It’s more than just a bit cheeky; people who dump their rubbish in other people’s bins are deliberately avoiding rubbish tip fees and fines, and it’s classed as antisocial behaviour.

Companies in the recycling industry had warned that this sort of activity would increase as councils imposed charges for collecting rubbish or for taking it to the local tip.

And as a final insult to the unlucky homeowner or business owner whose bin is full to the brim with other people’s waste, they won’t have their bin emptied as many refuse collectors won’t accept the bin if it is overfull and slightly open.

Many in the waste industry blame councils for punishing people for having full bins rather than concentrating on helping them cut down on waste in the first place.

Tips for reducing your waste: Do’s and Don’ts

• Don’t jump up and down on your rubbish to squash it down, it’s a bit risky to say the least
• Don’t think that the solution is asking for another bin-is four not enough??
• Do petition your council for more recycling points and facilities
• Do recycle more and try to buy products with less packaging

Do people see a problem with bin stuffing?

According to business waste.co.uk, some residents they spoke to saw no problem with putting rubbish in someone else’s bin. When asked if they thought it was wrong, answers included ‘it all goes to the same place, so what’s the problem?’ to ‘we had too much rubbish the week after Christmas and a week to wait for the bin men, so lucky for me there was a builder’s skip down the road.’

Fly-tipping is rife in the commercial sector

Commercial waste is subject to landfill tax, and there are other costs if the waste that has to be disposed of is hazardous or confidential, so it is inevitable that some businesses will try to cut costs by dumping their waste in other companies’ bins. The waste is sometimes hazardous and so it costs industry a huge amount of money to clean up.

Many companies have started using CCTV to monitor their bins, to catch people dumping rubbish and to prevent theft of valuable waste like metals.