[Closed] Why do refuse/recycling waste operatives have to start work so early?

Because cuts in services mean the service providers have to do more with less.

[quote=Coyote ]Because cuts in services mean the service providers have to do more with less.

I worked a summer on the bins about 20yrs ago. we started at 6am, done by about midday.

They cut the number of bin lorries they hire in my local area, and put the guys on an early/late shift pattern.

Makes sense, and guys were pleased to get a wee shift allowance too I believe.

I worked a summer on the bins about 20yrs ago

20 years ago we had 1 bin, and nowhere near the amount of waste packing material/ready meal etc we have now.

I worked a summer on the bins about 20yrs ago. we started at 6am, done by about midday.

about 20yrs ago

Mostly outsourced now rather than concil run. Not uncommon to still see recycling trucks out late afternoon after early starts.

So its done because they have second jobs maybe....

Meanwhile, back in the real world....

Job and knock isn't it?

So its done because they have second jobs maybe...

In my experience of living all over Belfast I observed that rougher/poorer the area the earlier the bins got collected. When I spent a few months in a shithole street in East Belfast the binmen were there at 6am. Conversely off the Malone rd (with the highest concentration of millionaires in NI) the bins were generally collected about 1.30pm.

Bin men around here don't cause that much of a holdup, certainly nothing compared to the recycling ****s who seem to take deliberate pleasure in blocking the entire road.

Why?
If they started at say 8.30-9am then their rounds would be done while the roads are quiet, in daylight and would cause less congestion and disturb less people who maybe don't need to be up at 7am

My wheelie bin is emptied at around 7am, and the recycling 2-3pm. The waste then has to be taken to the waste transfer station for unloading, the vehicles back to the depot, refuelled, and the crew washed and changed.

The operative could easily have second jobs - they only work one day a week! 😉

In all seriousness, the trucks will be doing 12+days used in shifts. I daresay a truck will be expensive so you want to get as high a utilisation/parked ratio as possible.

Arse ... I forgot to put the bin out this morning

Because they do 2 shifts. 6am - 2pm and 2pm - 10pm. If they start any later you can only do 1 shift and need more trucks.

Yeah then graded and then dumped on a bridleway near you.
Gotta do that bit in the dark incha.

So they can get to the pub at lunchtime, of course.

So they can get to the pub at lunchtime, of course.

This! 😉

So its done because they have second jobs maybe....

Yup. They're all fireman as well.

Because they do 2 shifts. 6am - 2pm and 2pm - 10pm.

My wheelie bin is emptied at around 7am, and the recycling 2-3pm. The waste then has to be taken to the waste transfer station for unloading, the vehicles back to the depot, refuelled, and the crew washed and changed.

Not on the same day though? ours alternates rubbish/recycling

We are supposed to have our bins out by 6am but they never turn up until the afternoon.
Bin day today and still not emptied yet.
Less bin lorries for more houses.

We now have 4 bins and paper recycling - general, green/garden, plastic, card.

They have to service a large number of properties...starting later ends later...

Job and knock isn't it?

Task and finish is the official term 🙂

they only work one day a week!

Hah - I used to think this as a kid and wanted to be a bin man when I grew up

🙂

Why is Father Christmas a crap lover?

Not on the same day though? ours alternates rubbish/recycling

Same here. Same day of the week, but recycling / general waste is alternate weeks.

Why is Father Christmas a crap lover?

Careful now.

block the narrow roads amongst the school run

If they started at say 8.30-9am then their rounds would be done while the roads are quiet

Don't know where you live but the roads are not quiet in Glasgow at that time of the day.

I guess they start early so the waste site have something to do when they start at 9am.

Careful now.

The alternative is 'Why is Father Christmas such a good lover'

😈

Not on the same day though? ours alternates rubbish/recycling

Same day every fortnight. Recycling only on the alternate weeks.

surely if the kids went to school making use of public or authority provided free school buses, then the school run mums and their 4x4's wouldn't be blocking the bin men trying to do their rounds

I live in posh Surrey, so Tarquin and Isobel are chauffeured to school in their chelsea tractors!

Can you not go into work earlier avoid the School run and the bin lorry?

Or a different route?

xcgb - Member

Every week on the same day on my journey into work, chaos ensues as the bin lorries are trying to collect the bins have to block the narrow roads amongst the school run and rush hour. We also have to have our bins out by 6am and they are working in the dark in winter.

Why?
If they started at say 8.30-9am then their rounds would be done while the roads are quiet, in daylight and would cause less congestion and disturb less people who maybe don't need to be up at 7am

is it just because they always have?

They're still working near me at 2pm.

I'm only guessing, but unless you want them coming up your roat at 2am like "the worlds shittest rave(c)" with their flashing lights and lots of banging they're going to have to be on the road during one of the "rush hours" - of course it hasn't been a single rush hour for decades - but the morning one is shorter - 07:30 - 09:00 really, the afternoon starts at 15:00 when people are trying to get to their kids school and carries on till 18:00 so better to get stuck in, in the mornning.

Jamie - Member 
Yup. They're all fireman as well.

Firemen(women) double as Ambulance drivers & paramedics also in some places.

Anyway, maybe they double as posties as they only seem to work in the afternoons now 😉

There are a couple of reasons behind it. A lot of crews still work to task and finish and so there is an incentive to start early so they can go early. In many cases its the way things have always been done and they see no reason to change it. For a lot of the crew members task and finish is a big incentive.

Being able to get the town and city centres done when the traffic levels are relatively light also means they encounter less hold ups. A lot of the rounds tend to be structured to avoid pinch points like schools at times of peak traffic demand.

Another key reason is that a lot of waste goes to landfill sites or transfer stations that have strict operating conditions. A lot of landfill sites have to have the tipping face covered over with soil at the end of the day which for them is typically 4 - 4.30pm. If the bin crews start later in the day they may not be able to make it to the landfill site before it shuts if they encounter traffic delays.

A few councils are starting to end the culture of task and finish. All this has resulted in are the crews sitting in their trucks in a layby reading the paper before they go to tip.

" few councils are starting to end the culture of task and finish. All this has resulted in are the crews sitting in their trucks in a layby reading the paper before they go to tip."

This is so stupid. You take what is not a very good job but has some perks like the ability to finish early if you work hard as steam a get the jobs done. You may do nothing with the extra time or do some extra part time work, up to you but it's your choice. Take away the perk and it just becomes a shit job.

Same with posties. Dad's friend used to use the post round as a early job that gave a basic wadge then do other work in the afternoon. Work fast and get to finish a bit early. Change in shift ment that perk was no longer possible so the job became unviable. More people left, less commited staff and more agancy workers.