In London when I wanted to get rid of something I just threw it away. Whether it was an empty yoghurt pot, a tea bag or a flat bed scanner; it all went into the same communal dump.
In Brussels when I want to get rid of something I must first consult this pictorial chart (see above).
You have four different coloured bags, each with its own particular penchant. Yellow has a paper and card fetish, whereas white's delectation is apple cores and onion peel (the sicko).
Simple enough but like all rules there are a few irregularities. For example, why can't a yoghurt pot go into the blue bag with the rest of the plastics? Instead it is banished with the ordures menageres. The same goes for the Capri Sun orange juice?
No glass whatsoever can be thrown away, instead it has to go to the bottle bank.
There's a handful of other items it's forbidden to bin, including light bulbs, cigarette lighters, cooking oils, empty printer cartridges, bottles of bleach, batteries, and all aerosol cans, these have to go to the waste recycling centre.
Well apparently you don't want to fall foul of the bin laws - rumour has it "the Man" sifts through your rubbish and issues heavy fines for transgressions.
I've never really believed in recycling, it's so energy intensive. I prefer reusing. For example, I drink a 24 crate of Jupiler beer. Each bottle goes back in the crate from whence it came which I return to the supermarket, collecting a small return fee. The bottles are cleaned by the brewer and reused - just like milk bottles used to be.
They usually send their inspectors round our way on the day we've gone on holiday, leaving our poorly sorted and stinking bag on the doorstep as a nice treat for us to deal with on our return. I've always recycled, so I'm quite used to it. Not sure what I'd do if there was only one bin to put stuff in.
ReplyDeleteSo the rumours are true, the bin inspectors exist. I think I'd rather pay a fine than have to sift through and re-bag my week old rubbish. Note to self, be more thorough in future.
Delete..... and so you should be. I don't want to be a preacher but there is hardly any waste that isn't disposed of properly at No 4. Tea bags, coffee grinds, vegetable trimmings, used tissues etc. go in the garden compost bins. All paper and packaging goes in the green bin and garden waste that we cannot deal with goes in the brown bin. We have very little in the black bin. The bonus is that we have two very hungry Springers who hoover up the food waste. Simple. Just sort as you go along. No-one wants to sift through old rubbish.
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