NOISY GREEN BOTTLES

24-11-2006

Birmingham Council is patting itself on the back after revealing the details of its latest “customer satisfaction” survey - but there is one glaring exception. The city's record on household recycling is falling way short of the public's expectations.

First the positives. Research carried out by the Birmingham Strategic Partnership of more than 5,000 residents shows the overall satisfaction rating with council services is 66% - up on the 55% recorded by the same study a couple of years ago - and 80% are at least “satisfied” with the value for money given for their council tax.

Parks also get a huge public approval rating (80%) while schools - surely one of the key areas of provision for any local authority - get the thumbs-up from 73%. That still means that more than one in four parents is unhappy with their kid's education, but at least the curve is upwards.

The council's record on household recycling though is ratedsatisfactory by just 60% - suggesting that officers and elected officials are lagging behind the general public in our desire to live a greener lifestyle.

For many years, the city relied on the Tyburn Incinerator to reduce the need for landfill, but is now slowly rolling out a green box recycling scheme for tins, jars and plastics to complement the existing newspaper recycling network.

A good thing too you might think - and so it is too a point. But as someone who lives in one of the trial areas, here's a word of caution. When the binmen come at around 5.30am, the van is already guaranteed to wake you up, but that's nothing to compared with the crash and rattle and clatter of all the bottles being loaded up about 20 minutes later. No sooner have you drifted off after your first rude awakening than you get a second, even ruder one.

Why it can't be collected later in the day - mid-morning say, after the rush hour - is beyond me. I'm also concerned that if this trend is repeated across the city, there'll be a backlash; folk who are green-minded will still want a full night's sleep.