I have four bins, two collected fortnightly and two collected 4 weekly, making a total of 78 collections per year. I have to put these bins in a collection point at the entrance to our close. The council say I can put my bin out after noon on the day before collection, and it must be taken in by noon on the day after collection.
If I am unable to manage my own bin then the council will, quite rightly, offer an ‘assisted collection’ service where they will come into the garden and move the bins for me. This adds a lot of time to routes, which in turn adds cost. It’s an essential service for those who need it.
I don’t need it as I am in incredible physical shape and can move my own bins around. However, I am often working away overnight so it’s sometimes impossible to stick to the rules on bin times. In my quiet cul-de-sac this is OK, but on a busy pavement it really wouldn’t be.
Sometimes I just forget to put the bin out, and this can mean another 4 weeks wait for the recycling to be emptied, which means trips to the tip or cramming recycling in against its will. Not an ideal situation.
So how about I pay the council for an assisted collection. Let’s say £15 a month, which is just over £2 per collection. I’d be happy with that to never have to worry about remembering to put it out. I reckon it would take about 2 minutes to come into the garden, get the bin and then put it back again. That’s an hourly rate of £60, which should more than cover the cost and enable the council to fund generous overtime for the crews or additional recruitment, which would be popular with them and good for the local economy.
Is this any different to when I buy a new washing machine and pay an extra £20 for the guys to carry it inside to my kitchen?
You might think it would be hard to manage this. It really needn’t be. Our system already tells crews about assisted collections as they arrive at the property, and the information updates minute by minute. Payment by credit card, Apple Pay etc is easily implemented so I could pay now and in 5 minutes the crew would be aware of it.
A better service for me, more employment, recurring revenue for the council and a stronger local economy. Who’s going to go first?