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This report contains a full analysis of the responses to our consultation together with a series of recommendations for improving the rubbish and recycling service of over 10,000 residents. The report was discussed on Monday 27 April by our Cabinet which agreed the following:
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Communal bins will stop scenes like this
As these images show, black sacks are a real and costly (to the Council Tax payer) problem in the town's weekly collection areas where potentially hazardous rubbish is regularly scattered along streets because the sacks have been ripped open by wildlife. Containing rubbish in communal bins is the best way of stopping this. Emptied daily, the bins would also stop residents having to store rubbish on their premises for long periods of time - they can be used on a little and often basis. Recycling is far too low in weekly collection areas and communal recycling containers would make it quicker and easier for these residents to recycle. If we do roll out a communal bin system in Hastings & St Leonards, we will run various recycling awareness campaigns similar to those we ran for Twin Bins which were highly succesful.
An example of where the bins could be located
Maps showing proposed locations have been sent out to all residents as part of the Communal Bins Consultation so everybody has a chance to comment. These locations are not set in stone and if the scheme is approved we will work with residents who have raised concerns to try and find and alternative site. If you haven't received a map or you would like an additional copy, please contact us.
The document sent out to all affected households
Yes! All affected households have been sent a detailed proposal document with a questionnaire as part of our Communal Bins Consultation. We've also held countless meetings with community groups and partners and heavily publicised the proposals on this website which attracts nearly 75,000 visitors every month.
Once the Communal Bins Consultation closes on 19 January 2009. After this we will carefully review all your responses and put a detailed proposal, based on your needs and views, to our Cabinet in March. If approved there is a long lead time for the specialist collection vehicles so the earliest we could go live would be Autumn 2009.
Scenes like this would be a thing of the past under a communal bin system
Communal bins are being proposed to help those people who can't accommodate twin bins and who might struggle to store waste over a long period of time. They mean residents will no longer need to store waste inside their property or outside their front door until collection day or brave the basement bin store! Communal bins make the streets cleaner, there is no food left for seagulls and foxes, and no ripped bags of rubbish or recycling strewn on the streets! They are already working incredibly well in Brighton, Westminster and other major parts of the country.
A bin being emptied
Yes! Communal bins are nothing like the old 'Oscor' bins. They don't have the same framework which often disrupt attractive Victorian street scenes. They are also emptied daily, much cleaner and have a far greater capacity for keeping rubbish and recycling off the streets!
An example of Fly Tipping
Fly-tipping of things like mattresses and fridges is already a problem in many of the existing weekly collection areas and we (and therefore you!) are incurring the cost of clearing them. We regularly see such items next to litter bins and we are already strengthening our enforcement activity to address this issue. Enforcement action is already taken against fly-tippers and any new fly-tipping sites will be regularly monitored and dealt with.
No. They would be emptied regularly to prevent them from overflowing and may be emptied up to six times a week depending on how much they are used.
No. The bins are made from a robust steel and have close fitting lids. Wildlife attacks on rubbish containers are no longer an issue in Brighton thanks to the introduction of communal bins.
No. The bins are on studs so cannot be moved around and experience elsewhere has shown they can be placed on steep roads without any issues. Special plates can be used to keep bins fixed to the ground if there are particular concerns about road gradient or pavements.
The highly succesful recycling awareness campaign we ran in 2007
Communal bins will also be provided for recycling. There are also a number of recycling sites throughout the town. If we do roll out a communal bin system in Hastings & St Leonards, we will run various recycling awareness campaigns similar to those we ran for Twin Bins.
Yes reducing rubbish is a high priority but keeping streets clean and providing a high quality service for our residents is also a very high priority!
The town centres and seafront areas provide many challenges for the storage and collection of rubbish. Many of the properties are converted into flats and have little or no storage for bins. Providing individual storage facilities for each household is impossible which is why we're looking at communal alternatives.
We're researching options for limiting the amount of rubbish that can be deposited into a communal bin but are also promoting the need for recycling in these areas.
Yes, we are looking to use a different colour lid and the lids will be locked so that materials can only be fed through dedicated slots.
Communal bins will help reduce the amount of rubbish going to landfill
Communal bins will help reduce the amount of rubbish going to landfill. Recycling in weekly collection areas is already very low when compared to Twin Bin areas. If the communal bin scheme goes ahead in Hastings we would introduce bins for both rubbish and recycling at the same time. We would combine this with an awareness campaign to promote recycling which will be easier than ever with residents no longer having to store materials until collection day. We will also run various recycling awareness campaigns similar to those we ran for Twin Bins.
The dedicated slots (one for paper and card with round openings for plastic bottles and tins) should prevent this.
No, whilst residents will need to use different openings for materials they go into the same container and are sorted once they are received by our materials recovery facility.
Glass cannot be recycled using the communal bins but we will be looking at communal glass bins in the future. In the meantime glass can be recycled at our various recycling sites.
Garden waste cannot be put into the communal bins. Please read our information about composting.
We'll try to keep loss of parking to a minimum but some areas may have to lose spaces. The proposed locations of the communal bins will be incorporated into the consultation. All communal bin site proposals are being discussed and signed off by East Sussex County Council's Highways Department to make sure any road safety issues are dealt with.
We're still looking at different sizes but generally the largest bins are no bigger than a small car and two bins can fit into a typical parking bay.
Communal bins are incredibly easy to use!
With ease! There is a foot pedal at the bottom of the bin which needs nothing more than a light push with your foot to open the lid. The bins are there for residents to use as and when they need - we suggest little and often. Assisted collections can be arranged.
A communal bin
We are still considering the colour of the bins but will make sure their 'visual impact' is kept to a minimum!
Early discussions with our contractors would certainly suggest that there are potentially significant longer term savings compared with the existing arrangements though it is accepted that there will need to be initial investment, just as there was with the Twin Bin scheme, and indeed will always be with any new initiative.
Yes, reducing waste is a high priority but keeping streets clean and providing a high quality service for our residents is also a very high priority. The town centres and seafront areas provide many challenges for the storage and collection of waste. Many of the properties are converted into flats and have little or no storage for bins.
Providing individual storage facilities for each household is impossible so we have to look to alternative storage options. We are investigating the options for limiting the amount of waste that can be deposited into a communal bin but are also promoting the need for recycling in these areas.
Emphatically not. Communal bins provide many benefits for the town and residents including cleaner streets and a convenient and reliable service.
The Environmental Protection Act gives us the power to specify what type of containers are used for waste. In this case we are specifying large communal containers. It also states that the local authority can place containers on the highway to enable this type of collection service.
Communal bins are a high quality service that are convenient for residents to deposit waste 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. It means residents no longer have to store waste on their properties and they make the streets cleaner. There will be no council tax rebates.
No, but we will work closely and sensitively with residents and our planning and conservation Teams.
Some flats will be included but residents will be informed individually. Flats with bulk bin arrangements will continue to receive these collections but this may be reviewed at a later date.
Assisted collections will be available if residents believe they will struggle to use the communal bin scheme. It would work by arranging for the resident to leave their waste outside their doorstep once a week (in a way they would receive the same collection as they do now). The communal bin crew would not perform the collections, this would be done separately.
Some properties that could accommodate Twin Bins may also be suitable for communal bins. We've invited relevant residents to identify their preference as part of the recently sent consultation document.
A communal bin being emptied
Different, side loading vehicles with 'rear steer' will be used to collect the communal bins and these are more manoeuvreable than the current collection vehicles. We've already tested the proposed routes with one of these new vehicles and there were no problems!
No. Rubbish bins will be collected up to 6 days a week. As residents deposit rubbish on a 'little and often' basis rubbish tends not to degrade and is collected long before it starts to smell. The collection vehicles can also be fitted with a deodoriser that sprays the bins when emptied and all bins will be subject to routine cleansing and maintenance!
Yes. A regime will be introduced to keep bins clean, clear of graffiti, clear of fly posting and make sure any damaged bins are promptly repaired or replaced.
Communal bins can be emptied in 45 seconds so vehicles cannot disrupt traffic for any extended period of time as often happens with the current house-by-house collection arrangements. Under a communal bin system, there would actually be less obstruction and delay for traffic!
The bins used are robust, steel bins with close-fitting lids which limit the amount of oxygen available to fuel any fire. Experience elsewhere indicates that this is not an issue and the incidence of fire and vandalism is rare.
Communal bins are better for rubbish collectors. They prevent the manual handling and 'needle stick' injuries that the Health and Safety Executive is pressing local authorities and their contractors to address.
No. The bins are fitted with dampeners to reduce the noise of the lids being opened and closed. Further modifications can also be made to reduce or eliminate any problems. When the bins are emptied the whole process takes 45 seconds so any noise would be for a minimum period of time.
When calculating the number of bins required in an area and their collection frequency we have built in additional capacity to deal with any peaks in rubbish or recycling volumes.
No, some of the gulls are protected species and a seagull cull would not be in line with our commitment to animal welfare.
With a greater network of communal recycling facilities it may be possible to remove or reduce the number of banks that are dedicated to paper, plastic bottles or cans. Likewise there may be scope to locate more glass recycling facilities at some communal bin sites. These facilities will be reviewed once a decision has been made.
The bins are be fitted with reflective stickers on their edges and are easily seen by traffic at night.
When communal bins are introduced into an area there needs to be a focus towards education and enforcement to ensure that residents understand the new scheme and comply with its requirements. This approach has been used successfully in Brighton when introducing communal bins into new areas.
We would encourage residents to adopt a 'little and often' approach to taking rubbish and recycling to the bins which would minimise the risks. Where residents have difficulties operating the bins, assisted collections can be provided. In the event that any residents decides to make a claim against the council we would have to consider any claims on a case by case basis.
We will try to avoid putting bins in places where parking is a big issue but this won't be possible everywhere. We're more than willing to review the proposed sites and work with our partners in East Sussex County Council's Highways department to try and find a solution where there are serious concerns.
If the proposals are approved we will be the first in the UK to jointly roll out rubbish AND recycling communal bins so we are really leading the way! Our experience with recycling sites across the town shows that residents are willing to take their recycling to designated sites and locating communal recycling facilities more extensively across the town should help even more residents to recycle. If we do roll out a communal bin system in Hastings & St Leonards, we will run various recycling awareness campaigns similar to those we ran for Twin Bins.
As many of the pictures on this page show, communal bins can be lifted in just 45 seconds so the vehicles are only ever in a road for a limited period so we shouldn't see the congestion caused when the collection vehicles have to wait for the collection operatives to remove bags from individual properties. The vehicles are also rear steer and are more manoeuvrable than the existing collection vehicles.
The vehicles being considered have been used successfully in Brighton for a number of years but as with any collection vehicle they may from time to time experience mechanical breakdown. As they are not widely used within the UK replacement vehicles are not immediately available from hire companies so there is a need to build a contingency into our proposals to ensure that a replacement vehicle is readily available in the event of breakdown.
We will be the first in the UK to dual locate this type of communal bin for rubbish and recycling so there is no like for like comparable data available.
However, Brighton have confirmed that there was no drop in recycling when communal bins were introduced for rubbish and Edinburgh have confirmed that when they introduced communal bins for recycling they saw an increase in their recycling rates.
Given that recycling in our existing weekly collection areas is currently very low, and based upon experience elsewhere, it would be reasonable to expect an increase in recycling if the scheme is introduced but this will only happen if we also increase awareness about recycling and educate residents.
Under the current arrangements rats have easy access to any food in black sacks that are not contained within a dustbin. Communal Bins are made of steel and only open when residents put their foot on the pedal so rats cannot easily access and rubbish. Brighton have confirmed that they have had no problems with rats and communal bins.
Studies have shown that emissions increase when vehicles have to continuously stop and start. This is a real feature of the existing arrangements as the vehicle has to stop every 10 metres or so to receive the next lot of rubbish or recycling. The process for collecting communal bins is much smoother as the vehicles are stopping less often and there is an argument that this would reduce the overall level of emissions.
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This page last updated: 14/05/2009