Britain’s rubbish postcode lottery, where some households are compelled to separate their waste into ten distinct bins, has been exposed via a new interactive map.
The scale of the situation, branded ‘bin-sane’ by some campaigners, was revealed by the TaxPayers’ Alliance following a major study by the group.
They discovered stark differences in the amount of effort required by homes across the United Kingdom.
On average, families have to contend with four different bins for refuse and recycling.
But in dozens of areas, some people are forced to use six, while in some Welsh towns and the Cotswolds, families have to sift through 10 different receptacles.
In contrast, lucky residents of Gosport in Hampshire only have two bins to deal with.
MailOnline can now identify which UK areas have been compelled to separate their rubbish into the greatest number of containers due to the bin postcode lottery.
Research by the alliance found that residents of Blaenau Gwent, in south-east Wales, who also pay the highest average council tax of £2,099 for a Band D home, deal with the most containers.
Each week, binmen collect food waste from green caddies: paper, plastic, metals, and glass in separate crates; cardboard in large white bags; batteries in small bags; clothes and small electrical items in different carrier bags; and grass in garden waste bags.
Families can also sign up to have nappies collected in special yellow sacks. Rubbish is taken every three weeks.
Households in nearby Merthyr Tydfil sort their rubbish and recycling into 10 waste containers, as do those covered by Cotswold District Council, Gloucestershire, the TaxPayers’ Alliance said.
Merthyr Tydfil said kerbside recycling was separated into eight bins, bags, and boxes, with residents also able to get rid of ‘small electrical items and textiles in clear bags on an ad hoc basis’.
A spokesman said varied collection cycles mean ‘not all receptacles would be out at any one time’ and recycling rates had risen.
Cotswold District Council said its ‘recycling rate is one of the best in the country’.
Two English councils have nine receptacles, while five others have eight. When research was carried out in 2011, only one council had nine bins and none had 10.
A previous study revealed that of all British councils, 130 out of 360 currently give residents four bins, with around 41 percent of recyclable waste being successfully recycled.
The latest news comes despite the previous government trying to get councils to limit the number of waste containers. Former prime minister Rishi Sunak last year claimed he had stopped Britons from having to deal with seven bins as part of his watering down of green rules.
The problem is that, despite people separating their rubbish for recycling, the councils don’t recycle the majority, and dump it all in landfills. This should definitely be a follow-up story.
And as for council tax, which is the biggest con. Calling the police is pointless; calling an ambulance is pointless because you’re very likely to die before one arrives, so why are we paying council tax at all? And where is all of the money that we pay in tax going?
The higher the tax band, the more you pay, and councils still claim they’re skint, along with mismanagement, waste, and theft.
Most people throw their rubbish in general waste because it all ends up in the same place – don’t buy the lie.
Why do we have to pay council tax? The council needs to be in charge of organising these things. The ‘McDonald’s’ tactic of having its patrons pick up after them has, regrettably, conditioned us all.
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 