Rubbish Roundup 21st November 2016

Rubbish roundup 21^st November 2016

Singapore's biggest shopping street, Orchard Road, now has trash bins with Wi-Fi! Shoppers will be able to access the Wi-Fi from 10 bins on the busy street between 11am and 9pm each day. Users will get 15 minutes of usage each before they are automatically logged off. The ‘Smart bins’ cost around $4,000 each and are partly funded by advertising which pops up on the user’s Wi-Fi. AS well as being a Wi-Fi hotspot, the bins have sensors which automatically notify cleaners when they are almost full so they can be emptied.

You can read more at http://www.stuff.tv/sg/news/singapore-you-can-now-get-free-wi-fi-public-bins-along-orchard-road#57vOGMxoAH4KfmEv.99

Staying in Singapore, the technology company Terra Sol are looking at developing sensors for bins that will have the capability of measuring how clean the air is within an area or for being able to count how many people pass by. Both functions would provide the authorities and local businesses with very useful information.

Residents in a Swindon street were angered this week after refuse collectors refused to empty most of the bins as they were too full and the lids were left open. The street was one of many residential areas affected by new changes introduced by Swindon Borough Council which included moving their collection day from Tuesday to Wednesday. The council stated they were asking refuse collectors to ‘use their discretion’ when on their rounds to account for any extra waste that might have accumulated because of the later bin collection.

Two bins are to be installed in a park in Weston-Super-Mare where hypodermic needles can be safely disposed of.  Weston Town Council will install the £200 bins in the town’s Grove Park, which is frequented by drug users. The council believes that this will prevent needle stick injuries from the needles just being discarded on the ground.

A rubbish pile in Dudley has grown so high it can be seen from the surrounding streets has outraged residents and sparked fears about health and hygiene. The pile contains everything from car tyres to children’s toys. The Environment Agency has taken enforcement action against Rowan Oak Waste Services, who are responsible for the pile of rubbish. The company has been stripped of their right to operate.

A woman from Hull who hired a man on Gumtree to take away her rubbish has been fined £400 in court. The woman was tracked down by the council after a coffee table, mattress, bed frame and children's playhouse were found illegally dumped on private land belonging to The Woodland Trust. One of the items had the woman’s address on, and the council issued a court summons where she pleaded guilty to a breach of The Environmental Protection Act. She told the court how she had hired the man on Gumtree to remove and dispose of her rubbish but she was unable to trace him. Gumtree stated they were trying to prevent fraud on their site.  

A fly-tipper has been fined £2,000 after 25 bags of rubbish full of rotting food, maggots and flies was dumped in woodland in Chalfont St Giles. The waste had come from a Portuguese restaurant and the owner said that the business had been very busy so he paid a ‘man with a van’ to take away his rubbish. The owner admitted to not checking the man’s identity and had paid him in cash, so had no way of tracing him.