Mansfield district council has warned residents to only buy wheeled bins from the authority after a number of “near misses” involving lifting equipment.
According to the council some householders are buying lower price wheeled bins from retailers and other sources, instead of paying £26 for the council bins.
The council’s bin are bought in bulk from both MGB and Craemer
The council explained that the cheaper bins are often made from lower grade plastic which can crack or buckle under pressure, or are incompatible with the lifting gear on the council collection vehicle, and heavy bins can fall off as they are being emptied.
‘near misses’
When contacted by letsrecycle.com, a spokesperson from the council confirmed there had been a number of ‘near misses’ from bins falling off the lifting equipment and bins which have snapped while being lifted for emptying.
Hayley Barsby, the council’s director of communities said the problem had been ongoing for several years, and that bins falling off lorries was ‘dangerous’ for both the council’s staff and the public.
The director of communities said: “A full garden waste bin can weigh 50kgs and a general waste bin can weigh up to 30kgs. There have been occasions where bins have snapped or cracked when placed on the lifting equipment and sometimes they have fallen off while being lifted.”
“The issue is that we cannot guarantee that bins sourced from elsewhere are made to the same high quality as council-provided wheelie bins.”
MGB drop test area
The council said its bin are bought in bulk from both MGB and Craemer. According to the council, residents are responsible for buying a replacement bin if theirs is lost or stolen or sometimes if they move into a new home and a bin has not been provided by the developer.
The council warned that when bin crews come across a non-council provided bin, the bin will be tagged and will not be emptied again until it is replaced.
MGB
Jonathan Wragg, project sales manager for MGB, told letsrecycle.com that the public should follow local authority advice.
He explained that if the bin does not meet the lifting standard, it might not fit in the lifting vehicle. Mr Wragg added that bins purchased online, which are often produced in other countries such as American or China, could be made from cheaper grade plastic, and would be manufactured to a different lifting standardisation.
He said: “I would never advise the public to buy a bin that’s not E840 standards and to always use a licensed retailer.”
And, Mr Wragg explained that MGB had often received requests from residents trying to buy just one bin. As a result, the company had set up a new site – binsdirect.com – where members of the public could buy the same bins that the council uses unprinted.
The sales manager said: “We make sure not only do all of our bins meet EN840 testing standards, but also to EN1501 lifting standards to conform to council lifting equipment.”
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Source: letsrecycle.com Waste Managment
