The council criticized the refusal to collect litter because of the color of the bin handle

Angry residents have slammed their council for refusing to collect bin bags – with the “wrong color handle”.

People living in Cornwall have been left “confused” and “furious” about the council’s new waste collection scheme – potentially leaving thousands of families without a bin. Locals say waste has not been collected for weeks because the seagull bags being used had the wrong colored handles – black instead of white.

Many people condemned Cornwall Council for the waste of money and resources – citing the irony that the scheme should enforce recycling when it “only causes more waste”. But the council claimed the new “standardised” service would be very efficient.

Resident Julie Elworthy, 61, described the saga as “an absolute nightmare” and a “waste of taxpayers’ money”. She said: “It took 12 phone calls, nine emails, a conversation with the county councillor, calls to Biffa and direct complaints. There was no accountability – the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing. “But last Wednesday was the last straw – I had to carry our rubbish up to the top of Saltash, 34 miles away, it was very time consuming, but I couldn’t leave the whole pile of rubbish at the bottom of the lane.”

It was only when Julie threatened not to pay her council tax – for the first time in 42 years – that a bin was delivered to her door the day after her warning. She added: “The council has breached what we pay for – by paying council tax we have paid for a service they have not provided.”

Julie, who has lived in Millbrook Village all her life, announced the dire environmental consequences of the council’s actions, arguing: “People have their own bins! It’s not nearly green. Where will the bags go now? It’s crazy and such a waste.

“We’re all interested in saving the planet, but I feel so sorry for the families whose waste hasn’t been collected for weeks – the nappies are piling up. It’s all just more plastic going to landfill – Council is far away. “The ‘service’ has been three years in the making and they still haven’t got it right – it’s certainly not a cost-saving or environmental exercise.”

Before the new system was introduced, residents who couldn’t use a normal black bin for space reasons bought black-handled seagull bags from the council. But the new standardized collection scheme meant the council was supplying almost identical black bags – but with new white handles instead of black.

Residents were asked to put their old black bags with black handles into the white handle bags for collection and disposal. Many residents say they haven’t even received the new bins, so they put their trash on collection day in everyday bags like they used to, which aren’t collected.

Julie says they were informed of the change to the recycling scheme through door leaflets and newsletters through the parish council last November – and were supposed to have bins in April but were only delivered last week. Cornwall residents have taken to social media to voice their views and questions about the change – with one calling the scheme a “disaster”, another describing it as a “waste of taxpayers’ money”.

Someone has written that they have lost confidence in the council and are asking for their council tax to be refunded. They added: “We don’t get a rubbish collection, or bus service, we don’t have children or need social care. We rarely see a policeman. We don’t trust Cornwall Council or our MP either. Can we have a refund of our council tax please?”

Another said: “I have been turned down multiple times for an extra bin or bag and you guys have refused to take my rubbish. Which will eventually become a pile. And finally and hopefully it won’t attract rodents. I was pushed from pillar to post. because no one can be bothered to help me.”

Another said: “My current bin is 31 years old and shows no signs of breaking in anytime soon! What an absolute waste to stop using it and spend energy replacing it for no other reason than the colour…” Cornwall Council responded to the criticism. : “Our new recycling and rubbish collection service aims to encourage everyone to reduce their waste and increase their recycling.

“To help with this we are providing all residential properties with a new and standardized 180 liter bin or bag which we will collect from the kerb every two weeks. All trash must go into the new bin or bag which our crews can monitor to ensure residents do not exceed the amount of trash they can dispose of.

“It also ensures that every household has a bin or bag of the correct size and in good working order. Once the new waste service is in your area, our crews will only collect rubbish from the new bins or bags we have provided. If you have an old bin or bag, we encourage you to reuse it where possible, for example for garden storage.

“As part of our new waste collection service for Cornwall, we are asking residents, for the first time, to limit the amount of rubbish they can throw away to what can fit in their bin or dustbag every fortnight.

“In order for our collection crews to enforce the new litter limitation rule, they must be able to clearly see that only the new gray bins or bags with white handles that we have issued are being used to dispose of litter and that there are no litter containers that residents may still have are taken out for collection. We encourage anyone who has an existing bag to reuse it or alternatively we can collect residents’ old bags once the new rubbish collection starts if they book it at www. .cornwall.gov.uk/bindelivery once the service opens for their area.”