Forum Topic

James de Vivenot · 11/19/2007 14:12:00

new.EalingToday.co.uk Communtity Forum Topic posting

New Joint Rubbish & Recycling collection arrangements

This morning I didn't put out our rubbish for collection, (as I had previously done on a Monday morning) because I was under the impression that the new rubbish and recycling regime would be starting today and our new joint collection day is Wednesday.However, as I opened my front door to go to work, I noticed a big pile of black sacks of rubbish piled up in the road, so I added mine to the heap.I'm not sure whether this rubbish will be collected today or be left at the mercy of the foxes until Wednesday. Either way the transition to the new arrangements has been poorly communicated to residents.Has anybody else had a similar experience of the new arrangements so far?

James de Vivenot ● 6892d68 Comments

In our road, some has been collected, some hasn't. The council has not actually bothered to tell us what "our" new day is anyway. So we'll have to keep trying each day. Is it me or is there no effective management whatsoever? They would not keep their jobs for 5 minutes in the real word. Inflation-proof pension anyone?

Viv Ellis ● 6892d

http://www.ealing.gov.uk/services/environment/refuse_collection/refuse_recycling_19november/index.htmlApparently most people's collection day should stay the same - it just should all be collected then.

Philippa Bond ● 6892d

on what was the residual rubbish day...

Philippa Bond ● 6892d

Philippa, according to the website, ours is meant to be changing from Monday to Wednesday, which is why I was puzzled by the pile of black sacks in the road this morning.

James de Vivenot ● 6892d

Our combined day is now Monday and would like to report everything went like clockwork! We have even had the streetsweeper round which is generally planned for the following day. So have to report 100% to Mr.Earl McKenzie, Head of Waste Management and our council management.

Robert Darke ● 6892d

I have now confirmed that our new joint refuse and recycling collection day is indeed Monday, so my food waste will have to rot for another week until it is collected next Monday.In the absence of any flyers or communication from the council, I consulted the ECT website at about 11.00pm last night to find out what I should do with my rubbish. The information on the website stated that my collection day would be Wednesday from this week onwards. I would have thought that at such a late stage before the launch of the new schedule that the information would be for correct for the new regime.However, this information has subsequently turned out to be incorrect. I have now had another look at the same website and our new collection date is in fact Monday.This new scheme has many merits, however it has been poorly communicated to residents. I am not the only resident in my road who has been misinformed - none of my neighbours put out their recycling box this morning either.

James de Vivenot ● 6892d

So between our two marks, Mr McKenzie is averaging 50%. What's the pass mark?

James de Vivenot ● 6892d

James - maybe somebody just forgot or didn't read any of the info and started a mass panic!!! Why are they on the road anyway? And what about the recycling?!!

Philippa Bond ● 6892d

I suspect most people were unaware of the changes and assumed that it was business as usual this week. What annoys me is that I was aware of the changes but was misinformed.The sacks are gathered from in front of each house by the bin men and piled up at intervals on the road to facilitate loading them on to the rubbish truck more efficiently (i.e. so they don't have to stop and start at every house).I guess the recycling will have to wait until next week - I just hope my food recycling "caddy" (I believe that is the correct term) can cope!

James de Vivenot ● 6892d

James - Now you see why people panic about it!You should have had a letter from the Council saying when your collection date is and also you should have received the Council's Around Ealing magazines which give lots of info on this. I think it was highlighted in October's and certainly features very heavily in November's. You must complain to the Council and also make sure that these magazines are delivered to you as they have a lot of important information about what is going on in them. It has to be said that of all the streets that need the information most it is those where the date is going forward or changing so you would have expected more thought to have been taken about them. It is possible that somebody did not deliver where and what they should have done (there were several complaints in Acton).The website at present isn't 100% either as the plastic being added to the collection is supposed to be rinsed and flattened and put out in a separate green box or in its own plastic bag and this is missing from the grid. Re your food bin - I should put another layer of newspaper in on top of what you already had in there. I quite often put mine out after two weeks and it isn't a big problem - but we are practically vegetarian.

Philippa Bond ● 6892d

In my corner of W7 - not a word from the council as to the day or new arrangments. Today when I caught up with the lorry neither oof the 2 operatives knew anything!

Viv Ellis ● 6892d

Viv - Take a look on the website www.ealing.gov.uk and fingers-crossed it is correct now for your street! (Except that not all the info about plastic will be on there yet.) I've just left a long post in reply to James - so you can see how much info you should have received. I know from the Acton W3 website that there were instances where one letter was delivered when the property was obviously divided into flats. You should let the Council know at customers@ealing.gov.uk and make sure that you get the info and the monthly Around Ealing magazine which is all about the Council's services.

Philippa Bond ● 6892d

It is disappointing not to have worked well for everybody. I`m wondering if the new schedule has fallen behind and whether you may receive a collection in the morning. The black sacks collection was an hour or two ahead of the recycling lorry.Also received a letter with our streets start day "Monday" about 3 weeks ago and the calendar top left showing 19th Nov. Hope it will settle down for everyone in the next week or two!

Robert Darke ● 6892d

Unfortunately I didn't receive a letter and I don't seem to be on the Around Ealing distribution list, so the council website is my main source of local information (apart from this site of course!)

James de Vivenot ● 6892d

Here in Northfields it's gone perfectly. All four collections took place exactly as planned, with the great cavalcade of dustcarts complete by 2pm. Well done Ealing Council.One thing this has brought home to me is the large amount of plastic we've previously been putting in our black sacks. It's a shame the plastic recycling couldn't have started sooner - but according to tonight's Standard, Ealing is the first council to collect and recycle unsorted plastic.

Mark Percy ● 6892d

Find your refuse and recycling collection day at http://www.ectgroup.co.uk/index.php?v=when&serviceID=1&sa=2&sg=1&bid=1We were notified more than once... by letter and a leaflet headed with the word MONDAY in huge red type.

Mark Percy ● 6892d

Hurray it seems to be working well in some places! My fingers are crossed for us tomorrow.

Philippa Bond ● 6892d

It does indeed sound like the collection went well today - which is great news! Now I've had my rant on here (which was about the communication of the change), I'm going to look forward to having my recyclables collected next Monday - including plastics for the first time, which is a great development for Ealing residents!

James de Vivenot ● 6892d

I see from the thread on the Chiswick site that somebody had to go chasing down to the road after the collectors to get theirs and a couple of other houses' plastics collected.

Philippa Bond ● 6891d

As the original referred to Stirling Road W3, it makes me wonder why this was posted on ChiswickW4.com rather than Acton W3.com...perhaps this is another example of neighbourhood snobbery? (refer to Chiswick off the air thread)

James de Vivenot ● 6891d

It is late and I didn't read it properly - it wasn't collected - perhaps because it has not been separated as per instructions? The Acton site has been terribly quiet recently. I wonder whether there were any collections in Acton today. The Chiswick front page is funny with the story about Chiswick recycling services and then when you read the story it is about LBE recycling services! I mean why couldn't it have been headed LBE?

Philippa Bond ● 6891d

Well over here, in the Chiswick, W4 part of LBE, all our recycling and rubbish were collected very efficiently. So unfortunately I have no complaints!

Angela Peel ● 6891d

I'm not clear what can and cannot be recycled. Milk cartons, plastic bottles and carrier bags obviously, but what about shrinkwrap from around food? Is there a definitive list anywhere? Thanks.

M. Anderson ● 6891d

Maggie, according to the council website, you can recycle all plastic (except large garden furniture and toys).For further clarification, you can contact ECT:Telephone: 020 8813 3181E-Mail: info@ectrecycling.co.uk

James de Vivenot ● 6891d

Thanks, James.

M. Anderson ● 6891d

It will be further sorted presumably by ECT - the recyclable content taken out and the rest disposed of. It should be rinsed and flattened and put in a plastic carrier bag (not a black bag) or a separate green box. (There seem to be three different lorries.)If you have not had the letter from the Council then you should let them know at customers@ealing.gov.uk and they can send you a copy. There is also masses of info in the Around Ealing magazine. "Around EalingAround Ealing is the council's monthly magazine for all residents and businesses in the borough.Packed with news and information about the council and the area, Around Ealing (pdf, large file 5.44MB) is hand-delivered throughout the borough, normally in the first week of the month. You can also obtain copies from council receptions and libraries.If you haven't received the latest edition of Around Ealing email your name and address to publications@ealing.gov.ukIdeas for articles and letters should be sent in advance of the copy deadline to the editor: Email: publications@ealing.gov.uk or Post to: Around Ealing, Perceval House, 14-16 Uxbridge Road, Ealing, W5 2HL"

Philippa Bond ● 6891d

All three collections completed in Regina Rd W13 by 10.30am. Couldn't have gone any better in my view.

David Highton ● 6891d

Our final collection was at 11.15. Neither my plastic nor a neighbour's was collected. Another neighbour had hers in a bag in the green box and it was collected! The street was swept in between collections rather than after them all. There is a black sack of plastic in the street put out by someone from the flats opposite. This may be the result of only one letter being delivered to the address. They were rather more careless with the green boxes and food waste bins today.

Philippa Bond ● 6891d

Everything taken this am at about 9.30'ish. Marvellous - we're in Walpole Ward. Ealing Council are to be congratulated - well done the rubbish collection department. And waht's more, the good men didn't throw the emptied green box any old where - they placed it back exactly where we left it when ready for collection - just inside our front drive. And no mess left in the road or pavement! Well done gentlemen - a good "Christmas Box" awaits you, come the week before Christmas. Cheers! ;-)PS: And we've noticed last week, for the first time in years, a roadsweeper with his trolley and a set og robust brooms actually sweeping the pavements AND gutters in our road and getting in between the parked cars too! Well done that excellent gentleman - Ealing is definitely getting noticeably cleaner! ;-)

Gerry Tan ● 6891d

We are getting some civic pride back in Ealing!Hope that Viv and James are happier next week and we hear more from Angela on Ealingtoday.

Robert Darke ● 6891d

Hey! We're not that quiet in Acton - 21 messages there today compared to 15 here - OK, 16 with this one - but no discussion of the new system yet. Maybe we have a disproportionate amount of collecting in the latter end of the week...Ours is Thursday and I have bags of plastics raring to go along with a huge amount of cardboard for some reason.Am looking forward to our inaugeral collection but that's because I am a very sad person.

Sara Nathan ● 6891d

Rubbish and recycling had all gone by 8:30Having it all on one day really focusses the mind on how much goes in the black bag.Congratulations to Ealing Council - this is a GREAT step forward.

Robin Hall ● 6890d

LOL. It is not just about being sad! It means not having bags of plastic in the car in case we pass by Stirling Road when it is open and the positive feeling that waste can take a smaller part of our working agenda.

Philippa Bond ● 6890d

These photos were taken this morning which was our previous recycling collection day:Img src=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2212/2052412664_195d945372.jpg?v=0>Img src=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2114/2052412592_5dd43e3578.jpg?v=0>

James de Vivenot ● 6890d

James,Viv, With the letter giving our day for collection we also received "How to Bin it" in bus-map format. This shows all the streets in the borough with shaded areas for the day of collection. Darwin is in the area shaded carmine for a Monday collection. Is it considered part of Little Ealing and is it named after Charles or the city?The segments stretch right across the borough,and for example South Acton would be on a Monday finishing in North Acton on a Friday.On the reverse is waste and recycling information and the Council customer services on 88256000 would probably send you a copy or email customers@ealing.gov.uk

Robert Darke ● 6890d

James,Viv, With the letter giving our day for collection we also received "How to Bin it" in bus-map format. This shows all the streets in the borough with shaded areas for the day of collection. Darwin is in the area shaded carmine for a Monday collection. Is it considered part of Little Ealing and is it named after Charles or the city? Viv`s St.Margarets area of Hanwell is also shown as Monday.The segments stretch right across the borough,and for example South Acton would be on a Monday finishing in North Acton on a Friday.On the reverse is waste and recycling information and the Council customer services on 88256000 would probably send you a copy or email customers@ealing.gov.uk

Robert Darke ● 6890d

I would just like to add that I have received a personal response from Jason Stacey (the head of Ealing Council) who having seen my post on here, carried out an investigation as to why some residents of Darwin Road were not notified of the change in recycling collection schedule. Apparently the checks to confirm the leaflets had gone out did not take place on Darwin Road. This was an isolated incident, as the surrounding streets were notified properly. Jason has arranged to send a crew down to Darwin Road today to collect the recycling that has been put out. This demonstrates both the responsiveness of our council and the reach of this forum!I would like to publicly thank Jason for following up on this issue and getting it sorted out so promptly. Also the Ealing Council/ECT refuse and recycling team deserve credit for the way that they have handled the transition to the new arrangements so well which, apart from the minor communications issue that I raised here, has by all accounts gone extremely smoothly.

James de Vivenot ● 6890d

They collected our rubbish, but ignored the recycling and food boxes

Adrian Orchard ● 6890d

It is three different collections. So don't bring it all back in yet!

Philippa Bond ● 6890d

The recycling has all been collected from Darwin Road now.

James de Vivenot ● 6890d

Hurray! And I hope that everybody gets the info now so that next week can go as clockwork.

Philippa Bond ● 6890d

The leaflets were delivered today so everything should go smoothly next week.

James de Vivenot ● 6890d

Brill. Just see how important feedback is!

Philippa Bond ● 6890d

Castlebar area done and very nicely too. The green box lot didn't wake me up till 9:15 from their usual time of 7:30.It seems the council leadership have done, however unwittingly, what many consider impossible and others consider near impossible.They have shown that it is possible to "polish a t*rd"!Underneath all those black bags, green boxes, plastics recyclables, leaves, and chewing gum, lies uneven, broken, and puddle-filled footways.For some sections of footway perhaps some of the disposed material could be used as filler!

Alan Brainsby ● 6890d

All my rubbish and recycling has gone (Cowper Rd in Hanwell! And the empty boxes (we have several) all stacked inside the front gate and not just hurled over the front wall like they often are.We are still awaiting delivery of the replacement food recycling box (the lid was broken when it was chucked back over the wall after emptying) I requested several weeks ago but other than that it's all very impressive.The new reusable pink garden waste sacks were delivered today too.

Jane Salisbury ● 6890d

I am curious as to what is happening about South Ealing Road. I can see from the map that the South of South Ealing Road is in red but the surrounding streets are brown. The website says Monday with no info about any recycling collection at all.There has been rubbish and recycling out all week with some very large piles in some places. (I haven't been out this morning yet.)It certainly used to be a Monday black bag collection as they used to be still standing in large piles on the pavement/in the road getting mown down by traffic mid-morning.The collection area map does not mention which routes are 'red routes'. A lot of the houses along South Ealing Road have green boxes and a lot of them probably go shopping at the Sainsbury's Local which has recycling banks very close to it. That map also shows the positions of the neighbourhood recycling banks which is very useful. If you haven't had it email or phone the Council for one.

Philippa Bond ● 6888d

My friends on the Greenford Avenue had their rubbish and recycling taken on different days - the waste truck route and recycling truck routes seem to have come adrift at this point!

Jane Salisbury ● 6888d

Greenford Avenue crosses a lot of area collections and has two postal codes W7 and UB12. All the random numbers I picked out were listed to have all three collections except two properties with an A after the number to which it actually stated that there was no service at all to that property. If Greenford Avenue can have the rest of the collections then surely so can South Ealing Road.

Philippa Bond ● 6888d

Everything was taken except the cardboard. Why? i live in Fosse Way W13

Tom Maramaros ● 6888d

Here in Lavington Road things are not going so well. Our green box day has changed from Weds to Monday but plastic is being ignored, I dropped it off at Gurnell as usual. Our rubbish day is still Tuesday. The letters said all collections would be on Tuesday but it hasn't happened yet as our green box was emptied again today (shame half of it was still in the house since we would have got the box ready this evening ready for tomorrow).

Ginette Smith ● 6885d

The mountain of black bags at the junction of Church Lane and South Ealing Road opposite the Conservative Club disappeared over the weekend. There are still a lot of black bags at the top end of South Ealing Road which have not been collected. Perhaps some investigation is needed as to whether the businesses along here have trade waste agreements.

Philippa Bond ● 6884d

And this morning I am looking out on a pile of bright orange bags on the street. Somebody seems to think they are living in Hammersmith & Fulham! What kind of bubble are they living in?

Philippa Bond ● 6884d

We're very pleased with the new arrangements for rubbish collection/recycling. They come and go most efficiently - I think the Council have really got it right with this one - well done Ealing Environmental services dept! We're in the Ealing Dean area. And as I think I've mentioned before, our dedicated street/pavement/gutter cleaner is a gem(he with his little trolley and selection of brushes) - he does the business so very efficiently. If we see him at Christmas, we'll definitely invite him in for a Glenfiddich or three! ;-)

Gerry Tan ● 6883d

If I bring a brush, may I have a dram too?

Graham Weeks ● 6882d

Our new regime is working perfectly as well but some polystyrene packaging was left so we rang the Environment people at the council. They rang back a few days later, apologising for the delay aand confirmed that as polystyrene is already recycled plastic it has to go straight to landfill via the black bags - or maybe I will use it to insulate the compost bin - anyway good and pleasant service - well done to the Council.

Pauline Compton ● 6881d

Polystyrene is good to use instead of crocks in the bottom of plant pots and there is just still time to plant some spring bulbs I hope.Our street cleaner is still coming in between collections but the collections seem to be OK.

Philippa Bond ● 6877d

Our refuse/recycling stuff was collected with pleasing efficiency this am. And our great pavement/gutter cleaner(yes, he with the sensible selection of industrial-looking long handled brushes and handy trolley) was around our side streets this am and like I observed recently, he goes in between all the parked cars. He's a *STAR*. Well done Ealing Council - you deserve a Michelin star or three! This new regime of refuse collection/street cleaning is working extremely well! Thanks for that. ;-)

Gerry Tan ● 6877d

Way-hey Tuesday's green bags together with today's green bags were collected at 4.20. I wonder if the street can stay bag-free until Monday night??

Philippa Bond ● 6874d

For some reason my cardboard wasn't taken this week...very odd, it was roughly the same amount in the same container as always! Everything else went though, and the street was swept today - only 2 days after the collection.

Jane Salisbury ● 6874d

The Christmas Collections timetable is on the back of the new Around Ealing. According to this collections are being brought FORWARD for Monday & Tuesday (24 & 25 December). 24=22 & 25=24. Ho Ho Ho - this will be fun!

Philippa Bond ● 6872d

Thanks Philippa - our normal collection day is a Tuesday(Christmas day)...therefore I assume that our revised collection schedule will be on on Monday 24th.I'll have my Santa outfit on to greet our nice refuse collection guys, on Christmas Eve then. Thanks. ;-)

Gerry Tan ● 6872d

As per the leaflet that came through the door this weekend, my normal day is Tuesday so will now be Monday.....The ECT database has not been updated with the new days and times.......

Joanna Dabrowska ● 6872d

This is just the Monday and Tuesday 24 & 25 December. I have now also had a card delivered with the holiday schedule on it. But there is no info on the Special Notices part of the ECT website and no schedule on the Ealing Council website. Quite a few people go away and need to know and plan in advance.

Philippa Bond ● 6871d

In reply to Philippa, the Xmas refuse/recycling schedule from December 22nd to January 4th is on the Ealing Council website at http://www.ealing.gov.uk/press_releases/2007/december_2007/pr1126.html

Mark Percy ● 6871d

Thanks Mark - it wasn't last week.

Gerry Tan ● 6871d

Yes, I can see it is there now if you click on Recycling and if you use the Search facility for Christmas Refuse & Recycling 2007. It is not at the top where the Press Releases are. I realise now that this is just a selection of press releases because they are choosing to publicise the Street Drinking consultation one. It does need publicising but shouldn't all the press releases be? If the middle column was moved down all the latest press releases could be listed together and take greater prominence. I wondered where they had gone but hadn't had the time energy or inclination to search! There are some more interesting ones there.The ECT site of course is not updated despite the fact that it says go its Special Notice bit for Special Notices. My collection on there is listed as 25 December.So if you clicked on the Council link saying go to the ECT site to find out when your joint collection is that is what you would get. And while I'm at it where is the Christmas Tree Recycling places list and the Christmas Card Recycling places list ..oh and the link to the new WRAP site www.lovefoodhatewaste.com (+ check up on what the Scots are doing north of the border on www.wasteawarelovefood.org.uk)? There are tips for dealing with food waste ie recipes for left-overs from the Christmas dinner and links to other sites where you can just tap in "mincemeat" and find recipes and inspiration.

Philippa Bond ● 6869d