What a waste

Wheely bins with sawn off lids at Moorhey Street depot.

MYSTERY surrounds why hundreds of old wheelie bins have had their lids sawn off — but council chiefs say they will be put them back into use.

Hundreds of bins — possibly numbering up to 1,000 — are currently stacked up at the Moorhey Street depot, each with the lid either sawn or snapped off.

One council worker claimed the bins had been deliberately damaged by agency workers struggling to stack them.

But while Oldham Council could not explain why the lids had been removed in such a drastic way, and admitted it may have been a blunder, it insisted the bins were now being recycled to save money.

Council chiefs say they are old, smaller bins that are now in demand thanks to increased recycling in the borough and merely need a replacement lid to be brought back into use.

Cabinet member for the environment and infrastructure, Councillor Mark Alcock, said: “With the successful roll out of managed weekly collections across Oldham more residents are asking for smaller general waste bins — 140 litres instead of the standard 240 litres — as they are recycling more and more.

“To provide people with the smaller bins the residents are asking for, we are currently refurbishing a large amount of old and damaged smaller grey bins fitted with blue or green lids that were used several years ago for recycling glass and bottles and have been kept in storage at Moorhey Street depot since they were removed from service.

“By replacing the lids at £3 each, instead of purchasing new bins at £25 each, the council is ensuring that it is as cost efficient and innovative as possible in making use of the resources that it has, in line with the councils 3Rs: Reduce, re-use and recycle.”

But a worker said: “The bins have been ruined.

“The boss asked some agency lads to stack them up but they couldn’t stack them because of the lids so they sawed all the lids of.

“The bosses couldn’t be bothered to check on them because it was raining.

“It has cost Oldham taxpayers because they are no good now and are all being thrown away.”

Paul Dale, TGWU convenor for workers in the waste, Street Scene and highways departments, said the bins were old stock from when black boxes for recycling were rolled out.

He said the lids should not have been sawn off. But while it was an error, it may have been done to stack them upside down to prevent water getting inside and causing them to topple over, or as a quick way of getting rid of the old lids.

He added that putting on new lids was the cheapest way of utilising the bins without replacing them.

Wheelie bins have actually become a rare commodity because of a Europe-wide shortage caused by the drive to recycle more waste.

In September, Oldham Council teamed up with Huddersfield company Titan MGB to secure supplies as authorities across the continent fought over dwindling stock.

The council used to get the majority of its bins and kitchen caddies from France and Germany but says its new buying policy means it cuts its carbon footprint and supports regional businesses.