Refuse collection and dumping around Lancaster Gate has been a hot topic over recent weeks.
In Westminster we have a minimum of twice weekly doorstep rubbish collections and a weekly recycling collection. Some streets have collections even more frequently than that. Times and details can be found on the lamp column in your street or online.
When some councils have moved to weekly or fortnightly collections we have protected our service because we recognise that with most people living in flats they don’t have room to store rubbish. In addition, we have Big Black Bins allowing residents to get rid of rubbish when its suits them.
Some of the sites have faced problems of dumping because some individuals and business are using our bins as a way to avoid paying for bulk waste collections.
Sometimes people do not use the bins properly by making sure that their rubbish is put inside the bins rather than by the side. In a busy area like ours one bag left by the side of the bin can lead to dozens in a very short time. This kind of dumping leads to unsightly piles of waste and extra costs to clean it up.
We have taken action to deal with this problem, including:
- Letter drops to ensure that people understand the options for waste disposal, including doorstep collections as well as the Big Black Bins
- Warning letters to those who have been found not to be using the bins properly and putting their rubbish inside.
- Fixed penalty fines for those caught flouting the rules
- Trial relocations of bins that face particular problems of dumping.
As well as ensuring that your rubbish and recycling goes inside the bins, there are things that you can do to help, for example flattening cardboard boxes put in the recycling, letting us know if bins in your area are frequently over flowing so we can see if the need more frequent emptying or reporting dumped waste on your street.
We also need to ensure that business do their bit. Which means not putting rubbish out for more than 30 minutes before a collection is due - so if you see rubbish left out for a long time please report it.
