We are on notice of imminent local industrial action on waste collection and recycling from the 18th August during the peak festival period.
The consequences are not going to be pleasant. Everyone’s aim has to be to manage their situation and their own responsibility as best they can. GPCC offer some practical suggestions to help you manage your waste in the event of a refuse collection strike.
Industrial action could be drawn-out – with disruption to ‘normal collections’ likely to persist.
‘Make a plan’ as a householder to cope with your own domestic situation and circumstances.
Talk to others. Discuss how to minimise the obvious adverse consequences with neighbours and with fellow residents in tenement buildings, flats and apartments. Share responsibilities for keeping unhealthy and unsightly overflow and spillage to a minimum. Help neighbours who can’t help themselves quite so well.
Pay attention to City Council instructions on putting green, grey and brown bins out for scheduled collection and to other Council guidance from their website or their social media channels.
Stock up if you can with good-sized, robust black bags. Prepare to fill, seal and store with ‘overflow’ household refuse.
Store sensibly and safely. Use and share empty garage space if you can. Store bags within (back) garden or driveway confines if you can, rather than on the pavement or the street.
Flat-pack and bundle cardboard boxes and crush soft cans before bagging. Bag or box like-with-like.
Watch out with food waste. Think about it. Store it as securely as possible and keep it out of reach of birds and vermin.
Avoid bulk item disposal until the situation becomes clearer. Dumping by street containers or ‘fly-tipping’ is not a solution. When large communal containers are full, they are full. Speak with your tenement or apartment neighbours and agree a set of practical ground-rules on siting refuse bag overflow.
Join with neighbours to do local ‘litter picks’, especially around pavement refuse bins and the like; and, as a passer-by, if the disposal bin is full to overflowing, don’t use it; that is especially true for dog-waste.
Drawn-out disruption to waste collections will likely be unsightly, disruptive, unhealthy and damaging to the fabric of our community. So please, pay attention to City Council guidance and get prepared.
