“Utter madness”: Furious Lincolnshire villager refuses to use new recycling bin
“I for one am not going to do the recycling centre’s sorting for them”
One resident in Bardney is protesting the new purple-lid recycling bins in West Lindsey, throwing his advisory tag in the bin and saying he won't use the new wheelie bin.
A Lincolnshire man has criticised West Lindsey District Council for its new purple-lid recycling bin and ‘tag of shame’ scheme, throwing away his advisory tags and insisting he won’t use the ‘waste of money’ wheelie bin.
West Lindsey District Council introduced the purple-lidded recycling bins and began delivering them to households in the area earlier in March, becoming the third local authority in Lincolnshire to roll out the new purple-lid recycling collection process.
The new bins are separate from existing blue recycling bins, in that they are solely for clean, dry paper and cardboard. The first collection for these new bins is due on Monday, April 18.
The purple-lidded bins will be for dry paper and cardboard. | Photo: West Lindsey District Council
Alongside the introduction of the purple bins is the addition of advisory tags onto the blue recycling bins, with waste removal teams now tagging any recycling bin with incorrect items in them.
The tags are also used by North Kesteven District Council, though they received the unfortunate nickname “tags of shame” after intense backlash was aimed at NKDC last year, with thousands of bins being rejected for incorrect waste.
Green bins (North Kesteven) were left with ‘tags of shame’. | Photos: Darren Cook and James Stout
It is believed the rest of the county will follow suit with purple-lidded bins by 2024, having seen the success of the scheme in North Kesteven and Boston Borough, but not everyone is delighted with the results.
Warren Webster, a 53-year-old Bardney resident, told The Lincolnite the scheme is a “complete waste of time and money” and even went as far as throwing his advisory tag in the bin and offering out his purple bin, as he will not be using it.
Warren has thrown his advisory tag in the household waste bin.
“They [WLDC] want us to recycle but then tell us this, that and the other can not go in this bin, it has to go in another one, but then they put tags on our bins regarding acceptable recycling, but these tags aren’t even recyclable! Utter madness.
“The end result will be more rubbish going to landfill because I for one am not going to do the recycling centre’s sorting for them.”
The council came under scrutiny after it was discovered the advisory tags used to remind people about recyclable products are in fact not recyclable.
The tags will be converted into electricity once put into general waste bins, however.
Rather ironically, the tags themselves need to go in the black household waste bin. | Photo: Lizzie Bell
A spokesperson for West Lindsey District Council said the reason for these bins being rolled out is to “improve recycling” and the quality of items that can be recycled.
“This list of items that can be recycled in your blue wheeled bin have not changed. However, the council is using the opportunity to raise awareness of what can and cannot be recycled to clean up what materials go into the blue bins to maximise the quality of recycling materials across the whole district.
“Whilst we have collected bins with the wrong items in them, contamination has become a major issue. We all have a responsibility to do the right thing environmentally.
“With regards to the educational, advisory tags, unfortunately they need to be waterproof and the cost for making them out of recyclable material was just too high. However, once they’re put in people’s general waste bins they’ll be converted into electricity at our energy from waste plant in North Hykeham.”
West Lindsey District Council has begun rolling out purple-lidded recycling bins ahead of starting waste collections next month. | Photo: WLDC
Warren went on to say he isn’t quite sure where his council tax actually goes, given the issues across the district that are yet to be resolved.
He continues: “We pay a lot of money each year in council tax and for what? Roads are badly maintained, if even maintained at all, street lighting is turned off at midnight and now the council spend thousands on yet another wheelie bin with reduced collections.
“What about the people who have limited space for their bins? If you leave them on the pavement they will fine you for it. West Lindsey District Council policy makers need to sort their priorities out; money into the roads would be a good place to start.”
In response to this point, the WLDC spokesperson argued roads and street lighting are the responsibility of the county council, so they have limited say in that sector.
“This initial investment of around £3 million across Lincolnshire should be recouped within three to five years and will be greatly outweighed by the long-term savings. That money could then instead be spent on other vital services in your community.
“It is important to remember that it isn’t just about costs. It is about us doing the right thing to help protect the environment for the future, as our residents can expect.
“By using a specialist paper recycler in the UK we can reduce the number of miles paper and cardboard travels before being fully recycled, and consequently our carbon footprint. By reducing the contamination in the rest of the recycling, this process also becomes more efficient both economically and environmentally.”
Any residents with concerns about their recycling bin should email [email protected] and a member of the Lincolnshire County Council team will come and speak to them personally.
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An emergency road closure will be put in place for two hours in Stamford’s Red Lion Square on Wednesday as expert crews carry out road materials testing.
The critical work will take place on Wednesday, May 25 and the road closure in and around the square will be in effect from 10am until 12pm. A full route diversion will be signposted.
The roads will have to be closed because some of the materials testing will be carried out on the live northbound traffic lane in the area.
The route map for traffic whilst testing is underway. | Photo: LCC
Just last week a forty-year-old gas main was discovered during works to replace the old cobbles in Red Lion Square, which the county council said was likely to delay the completion of the £1.4 million project. The site team began the works but later identified the shallow gas main on-site that may need to be diverted.
Lincolnshire County Council will keep, and update, the cobbled square despite the mayor of Stamford previously calling on the authority to instead use tarmac. Local residents had previously reacted in horror when the traditional paving setts were repacked with patches of tarmac in 2020.
Red Lion Square in Stamford. | Photo: LCC
Karen Cassar, assistant director for highways at Lincolnshire County Council, said: “We are sorry for the inconvenience that these material tests will cause and for the late notice of the road closure in Red Lion Square.
“Our on-site team has uncovered questions about the road materials which need clear answers and these can only come about through these tests.
“Rather than postpone the works further we will close the road for two hours to carry out the tests and then resume to the original plan of works for the area. We are doing this to absolutely minimise the disruption to road users as much as possible.
“Whilst this situation is not ideal, we appreciate the efforts of all concerned. I want to thank everyone effected for their patience in this matter whilst we carry out these tests.”
Over 300 kilos of essential food was donated to Lincoln Foodbank at the opening night of the Hunchback of Notre Dame on Monday, and the show’s producers are offering a prize draw of free tickets to people who continue to help the cause.
The Starring Lincoln Theatre Company’s production of the classic Victor Hugo novel had its opening night at Lincoln Cathedral on Monday, May 23, and it will continue to bring shows to the legendary venue until Saturday, June 4.
The company called on ticket buyers to bring food donations with them to the cathedral for Lincoln Foodbank, and the results certainly did not disappoint.
Andrew Buhagiar, a 20-year-old student from Malta, stars in the production as Quasimodo. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Over 300kgs of goods such as UHT milk, sugar, tuna and tinned foods were collected at the cathedral, a brilliant start to Starring Lincoln’s target of four tonnes – which was achieved during performances of Oliver! in 2017.
The appeal has never been more necessary, with Lincoln Foodbank taking on more people’s needs than ever before, and it has even reached the stage where some of the Hunchback performers are relying on the use of the food bank.
| Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Visitors are being invited to continue bringing food donations with them, with a collection point situated in the nave of the cathedral.
All donations are welcome, even from those without tickets to a Hunchback production, and anyone who brings something along will be entered into a prize draw to win a ticket to one of the shows.
A magical display inside Lincoln Cathedral. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Tim Marks, who plays Clopin in the Hunchback of Notre Dame said: “It is heartbreaking frankly that people in one of the richest countries in the world simply cannot afford food.
“We know the people of Lincoln have gone above and beyond before with their kindness and crikey we thank them for it, but the Foodbank has never been more in need of donations.
“We have friends, some of whom in the cast who are in need of the Foodbank’s services, so please bring what you can and in return we promise we will entertain you with an absolute stonker of a show!”
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