I have lived in Bury for over 40 years and have only twice had reason to complain about our recycling services, but an event this week beggars belief.

On Friday last I placed our green bin at the end of my drive. It was two thirds full and 90% of the contents were grass cuttings which were cut on Wednesday.

Come Friday afternoon I went out to retrieve my “empty” bin only to find it was still half full!

I e-mailed Bury Council explaining the situation and fairly rapidly received this reply:

Thank you for your enquiry. The crew have reported that the bin would not fully empty.

As the bin is tipped upside down all the waste should fall freely out. If this does not happen the material is classed as stuck or compacted.

Please ensure the waste is loosened for your next collection to ensure that the bin can be fully emptied.

Regards, Customer Contact Team

So, now we know, we have to test all our bins for flow rate before placing them out for collection!

As Victor Meldrew once said, I don’t believe it!!!

I would welcome any suggestions as to how I am supposed to check that all the contents will tip out without actually tipping them out!

Of course I will never know if that test could be repeated without tipping it again and again etc.etc.

Brian Saffer

Address supplied