Residents of Bristol have long had to recycle their cardboard, plastic, tins and glass. However, new rules have added clothing, batteries and shoes to the list.
There are now separate large gull-proof bags for general waste and garden waste, along with a cardboard bag, a paper and glass box and a metal and plastic box.
Food waste has its own bin, while clothes and shoes, small electric goods, shredded paper and batteries all require separate carrier bags.
Meanwhile, engine oil must go in a sealed container and car batteries and spectacles must lie loose on the pavement next to the recycling bins.
Residents of Caledonia Place in the suburb of Clifton say they dread the weekly bin collection on Thursday as the pretty street is filled with containers and bags.
“It’s a farce,” said Tracy Clement, 57, who works in education. “Most of the people living here are in flats and there’s too many containers outside all day.
“Bags are hanging on listed railings which they shouldn’t be anywhere near. There’s always a mess and there’s animals and vermin that come out on bin day.”
Bristol City Council recycles 46% of household waste, compared with 44% nationally.
Its new system is based on research showing that the more bins people are given, the more inclined they will be to recycle.
But Imogen James, 18, who has lived in Bristol since February, said: “They are pretty useless. We’ve had to ring the council several times to complain that they haven’t picked up the recycling and rubbish.”
Bin men refuse to take rubbish if it has not been sorted properly, which leads to concern among some residents if a passerby puts an item in the wrong box.
However, some residents are happy with more recycling. Mike Barton, 72, has lived in the street for 30 years, He said: “It works all right as long as people know when to put things out.”
However, he says if people put food in the wrong bins, rubbish is spread across the pavements.
Jock Shepherd, 66, a company director who has lived there for three years, loves the system and believes it is better than others he has seen elsewhere. “I don’t find it a nightmare to separate all the rubbish – it was just something to get used to,” he added.
Bristol City Council has been contacted for comment.
