News

Council staff are rummaging through your bins

July 27, 2010

Spies are not going through your rubbish to form socio-economic profiles of local people, but council staff are rummaging through bins to find out what you recycle.

Bracknell Forest Council leader Paul Bettison has rejected claims in national newspapers that Bracknell is one of a number of places where councils go through people’s bins to find out more about their residents.

But he said staff do look through a sample number of bins to find out whether people are recycling.

Bracknell Forest Council was named in national stories earlier this week about councils sampling people’s rubbish to match different refuse to different ethnic groups, or wealthy and poor households.

Cllr Bettison said: “If a council wanted to build up personal profiles you wouldn’t go through people’s bins, you’d drive up their street and look at how big their house is and what car they drive, but we don’t do that either.

“To cut the amount of rubbish we send to landfill, we need to find the areas where people are not recycling.

“We employ companies who will empty half a dozen bins from a random street into a separate white van to find out if a certain area is recycling or not, then we know where to send leaflets to.

“It’s hardly profiling people from their rubbish.”

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I don't see it as a problem - they're not even looking at individuals. They're taking a selection of bins from a street, shoving everything in together, taking it away, and then going through them, so they'll say "in this street people are recycling blah blah blah", not "sarasara isn't recycling enough".

CMA
29/07/2010 at 12:26

sarasara

".....so why are the council behaving like it is."

Cos they're trying to encourage people to recycle more, duh!!! It's not affecting you personally so don't whinge, NIMBY!!!

crowthorne gangsta, RG45
28/07/2010 at 18:04

Sounds fair do's to me.

More frightening is that politicians are actively looking at ways to make the best use of funding.

Crikey.

Beef, Bracknell
28/07/2010 at 14:53

It may not be illegal not to recycle but it's pretty important that we do it. I think it's the responsibility of the council to look into ways of making sure it is promoted. Its nothing like getting a police state because they aren't proposing to punish people for not recycling or whatever, they're just trying to find out wher the message is getting across and where it's not. Apparently one of the areas isn't is yours sarasara.

Doc Poodle
28/07/2010 at 14:02

there's no problem with it, it's just the Daily Mail readers who don't have anything proper to get worked up about in their blissful middle-class lives who get annoyed about this.

Megaman
28/07/2010 at 14:02

If you had something to hide then you wouldn't throw it in the bin would you?! Unless you are a complete idiot!! So what's the problem with it?

Brad From-Birch Hill, Bracknell
28/07/2010 at 09:16

I dont have anything to hide but if I did then it should stay private. I pay council tax too and I have a right to disagree. Its getting like a police state. I will throw away what ever I like, its not illegal not to recycle so why are the council behaving like it is.

sarasara, sandhurst
27/07/2010 at 21:41

Why do you care if someone looks through your bin? Ultimately they want to save money by doing this and, in turn, reduce our council tax bill. If that means they want to look through my bins, then so be it.

What do you have to hide sarasara?!

Doc Poodle
27/07/2010 at 14:15

I suppose its to find out whether people are recycling everything they can. We do recycle a fair bit, but I know there is some confusion about exactly what can go into the bins...in my case the types of plastics.

Dont envy the guy or gal whose job it is to go bin searching!

sartay
27/07/2010 at 14:05

Hope you enjoy the smell of my daughter's nappies! :P haha nice job for someone!!

Brad From-Birch Hill, Bracknell
27/07/2010 at 11:10

There glass recycling bins at Bracknell Football Club. Have a pint while your there ;-)

Beef, Bracknell
27/07/2010 at 10:57

That's outrageous. I would hate for some one to look through my bin. Surely they have to ask permission. Also why do Yateley council pick up glass and not Bracknell if they are so keen on recycling. Bracknell also said that the two week bin emptying was not to do with money but now its come out through the government that it was purely financially motivated. You cant believe a word they say.