Abuse of apartment complex bins?

Grolschevik

The other day, I saw a car pull up in my apartment complex and the occupants then unloaded bags of rubbish from the boot and put them in the complex's wheelie bins.

Now, I don't actually know whether they were residents or not. There are probably some reasons why a resident might need a car to transport rubbish.

However, the idea that they were just taking advantage to save on their domestic waste bill annoys me. But should I be annoyed?

The question is, does this practice adversely affect residents of the complex?

Apart from leaving less space in the bins for residents, and apart from the risk of everyone in the area copycatting and doing likewise, would it increase costs? Do refuse collection companies calculate their contract fees based on average weight?

Zamboni

Grolschevik wrote: »

The other day, I saw a car pull up in my apartment complex and the occupants then unloaded bags of rubbish from the boot and put them in the complex's wheelie bins.

Now, I don't actually know whether they were residents or not. There are probably some reasons why a resident might need a car to transport rubbish.

However, the idea that they were just taking advantage to save on their domestic waste bill annoys me. But should I be annoyed?

The question is, does this practice adversely affect residents of the complex?

Apart from leaving less space in the bins for residents, and apart from the risk of everyone in the area copycatting and doing likewise, would it increase costs? Do refuse collection companies calculate their contract fees based on average weight?

Are the wheelie bins in a secure location requiring a key/fob/pin to access?
The mangement company are just asking for this to happen if they are not.

mikemac1

It's very common
And it will continue to happen, people look for a soft touch and they found one

Ever consider becoming a gated estate?

ABajaninCork

It MIGHT be a resident needing their car to take their rubbish out. But I doubt it!

I would be very annoyed if I paid for my bins, and someone else took advantage of that fact to avoid paying for theirs. That's mickey-taking pure and simple. If I caught them, I wouldn't be slow in letting them know what I think.

If they ASKED, then it would be different. Our neighbour has a large family, and there's only the two of us. Sometimes, he puts rubbish in our bin as his is too full. We don't mind as our bin is rarely that full. But there is a difference. He ASKED...

Grolschevik

Zamboni wrote: »

Are the wheelie bins in a secure location requiring a key/fob/pin to access?
The mangement company are just asking for this to happen if they are not.

mikemac1 wrote: »

It's very common
And it will continue to happen, people look for a soft touch and they found one

Ever consider becoming a gated estate?

It is gated, though more often than not the gates are either broken or left open at a certain time of the day to facilitate a business that operates in the complex. Even at other times, you wouldn't have to wait more than a couple of minutes in order to tailgate someone in, and you don't need a zapper to get out...

christmas2012

hmm..i would be annoyed,and i probably would have let them know there not welcome to offload at the apartment complex,did you bring it up with any of your neighbours yet?get a lock for the bins in future i would advise the owner of the bins at that complex,another thing,you could sift through the rubbish and see if you can find any bills with their addresses on it..

Graces7

There is one outside a shop I pass each week marked PRIVATE BIN and a CCTV sign,.. that would be a way to go on this?

Sleepy

See this on a regular basis tbh.

Roxee

Graces7 wrote: »

There is one outside a shop I pass each week marked PRIVATE BIN and a CCTV sign,.. that would be a way to go on this?

There's something to be said for the psychological effect of a sign saying that the bins are being monitored by CCTV. Even if it's nothing more than a sign.


I remember reading about some study in an office kitchen which was always being left in a mess. Then a sign was put up - a large pair of eyes. Once the image was up on the wall, far more people cleaned up after themselves. It was the sense of being watched, even though logically all it was was a symbol on a piece of card. But it did something to people's thinking.

Anyway......I'm rambling. I would suggest the sign at the very least. Cheap and potentially effective. Best of luck

Graces7

Roxee wrote: »

There's something to be said for the psychological effect of a sign saying that the bins are being monitored by CCTV. Even if it's nothing more than a sign.


I remember reading about some study in an office kitchen which was always being left in a mess. Then a sign was put up - a large pair of eyes. Once the image was up on the wall, far more people cleaned up after themselves. It was the sense of being watched, even though logically all it was was a symbol on a piece of card. But it did something to people's thinking.

Anyway......I'm rambling. I would suggest the sign at the very least. Cheap and potentially effective. Best of luck

And of course you never know.. I used to think the signs re cctv at bottle banks were fake until I heard of someone getting fined for leaving a cardboard box behind accidentally.

Cathmandooo

Happens in my place too, very frustrating but so far I've never had an issue fitting my own bags into it. I'm just grateful the swines put their rubbish in the actual bins, for a long time they were just dumping them behind our complex on the ground under people's bedroom windows. Then another person would come along, see the dumped rubbish, and add to it :mad: because you know, that's clearly where the rubbish goes! Idiots

If we got locks put on the bins they'd just leave rubbish on the ground. There is a camera over them but I've no idea who is looking after it and if it works. If we got secure gates it would add to the cost of the management fee so as long as it's not costing me extra and there's still space in the bins for my rubbish I'm leaving things be.

The last place I was in had the bins behind secured gates. It was for about 10 apartments and a few offices. You'd often see the office crew tipping their household rubbish out of their boots into it. Those bins were always overflowing and I'd sometimes have to hold back on putting my rubbish out until they were emptied. Very annoying.

It seems to be a fact of life sadly!

Graces7

Cathmandooo wrote: »

Happens in my place too, very frustrating but so far I've never had an issue fitting my own bags into it. I'm just grateful the swines put their rubbish in the actual bins, for a long time they were just dumping them behind our complex on the ground under people's bedroom windows. Then another person would come along, see the dumped rubbish, and add to it :mad: because you know, that's clearly where the rubbish goes! Idiots

If we got locks put on the bins they'd just leave rubbish on the ground. There is a camera over them but I've no idea who is looking after it and if it works. If we got secure gates it would add to the cost of the management fee so as long as it's not costing me extra and there's still space in the bins for my rubbish I'm leaving things be.

The last place I was in had the bins behind secured gates. It was for about 10 apartments and a few offices. You'd often see the office crew tipping their household rubbish out of their boots into it. Those bins were always overflowing and I'd sometimes have to hold back on putting my rubbish out until they were emptied. Very annoying.

It seems to be a fact of life sadly!

There is just too much rubbish.. We use almost no packaged stuff, rarely a tin. Re-use everything. These days all is disposable. So much rubbish.

irlrobins

Thankfully our bins are locked away inside a bin store, so not only are they not an eye sore, but it restricts access to residents.

Although I'd like to see residents improve on their recycling. General waste costs €12 per lift, the same bin for recycling is just €3. Quite a saving.

But yes, if your bins are out in the open, wasy to access you can be guaranteed that someone will take advantage and add their rubbish to it, at your expense.

Oracle

Yeah this goes on where I live as well. Plus it's not only outsiders that do this, I've also seen residents (owners) putting in rubbish I knew wasn't from their apartment. I knew because, they lived a few paces from the bins. But I seen them drive into the carpark, park in a concealed area, open their boot and take a big black sack or two out and dump it in the complex bins. More than likely its rubbish from a relatives or friends house or rubbish from their own business.

ProudDUB

OP, get onto whatever company picks up your wheelie bins and ask them for other kinds of rubbish recepticles, ones that you can lock. My aunt had the same problem at her apt complex. The mgt company got onto to Panda or Greyhound, or what ever the company was, and they replaced the wheelie bins with larger big metal containers that can be locked. Only residents have keys to them.

yellowtrout

This happened to me too, in an apartment complex I lived in.

A previous neighbour of mine moved out (moved to a house five minutes away) and every week she'd drive through the gates of the apartment complex, get out of the car super quick, take her rubbish out of the boot and throw it in the communal bins.,

When I first saw it happening I was shocked. It was so cheeky, but as she'd only just moved out at the time, I assumed she was still sorting her own bins out. However, it happened every single week and then she got her boyfriend to dump the rubbish in the early hours of the morning, driving his van in and throwing the bags in the bin area.

I was so angry and I took the registration number of their cars and gave it to the management company who promptly came out, inspected the bins, found their names and address and sent them a fine.

To cut to the chase, try to take the reg plates of the cars you see and give it to the management...they'll be fined and hopefully won't do it again.
Bloody cheek of them.

Zamboni

yellowtrout wrote: »

I was so angry and I took the registration number of their cars and gave it to the management company who promptly came out, inspected the bins, found their names and address and sent them a fine.

To cut to the chase, try to take the reg plates of the cars you see and give it to the management...they'll be fined and hopefully won't do it again.
Bloody cheek of them.

On what authority would a management company have to issue fines to non residents of an apartment block?

the_syco

Grolschevik wrote: »

or left open at a certain time of the day to facilitate a business that operates in the complex

I'd wonder is this even allowed? If I moved into a gated complex only to find someone got the gates to be left open so that they could run a business from within, I wouldn't be all that happy. What sort of business is ran? Is it from their own apartment, as I'd doubt this is allowed under his lease.

Zamboni wrote: »

On what authority would a management company have to issue fines to non residents of an apartment block?

Most likely the MC liaised with the litter warden, got letters/addressed mail from the rubbish, and fined them that way?

msnd

Hi we had this problem at our apartment complex. CCTV was installed and the gate can only be accessed by a set number of residents mobile phones who's owners are known to the management company . With the capability to check who opened the gate last and who was seen throwning bags in the wheeled bins the incidents of abuse of the waste facilities stopped. A worth while investment for your management company also I would think

Grolschevik

ProudDUB wrote: »

OP, get onto whatever company picks up your wheelie bins and ask them for other kinds of rubbish recepticles, ones that you can lock. My aunt had the same problem at her apt complex. The mgt company got onto to Panda or Greyhound, or what ever the company was, and they replaced the wheelie bins with larger big metal containers that can be locked. Only residents have keys to them.

That might be possible, but there are probably about 20 'dumpster'-style bins in total around the complex for general refuse, recycleables, and glass. Locks for all, plus distribution (and periodic replacement) of keys to residents would probably cost more than this outsider dumping costs (if it costs...)

yellowtrout wrote: »

To cut to the chase, try to take the reg plates of the cars you see and give it to the management...they'll be fined and hopefully won't do it again.
Bloody cheek of them.

That might be worth a shot. At the very least, visibly taking a reg plate or even a photo might act as a deterrent.

the_syco wrote: »

Most likely the MC liaised with the litter warden, got letters/addressed mail from the rubbish, and fined them that way?

Would this count as illegal dumping and/or trespass?

the_syco wrote: »

I'd wonder is this even allowed? If I moved into a gated complex only to find someone got the gates to be left open so that they could run a business from within, I wouldn't be all that happy. What sort of business is ran? Is it from their own apartment, as I'd doubt this is allowed under his lease.

No it's a purpose-built business that was on the plans from day one.

msnd wrote: »

Hi we had this problem at our apartment complex. CCTV was installed and the gate can only be accessed by a set number of residents mobile phones who's owners are known to the management company . With the capability to check who opened the gate last and who was seen throwning bags in the wheeled bins the incidents of abuse of the waste facilities stopped. A worth while investment for your management company also I would think

Interesting as well. Depends how widespread the abuse is and whether it costs money. I've only noticed it a couple of times so far, but I'd want to be hanging round outside all day to be sure.

Is this issue increasing the charges to the management company, or does that depend on the terms of each individual waste-disposal contract?

sunnysoutheast

Zamboni wrote: »

yellowtrout wrote: »

I was so angry and I took the registration number of their cars and gave it to the management company who promptly came out, inspected the bins, found their names and address and sent them a fine.

To cut to the chase, try to take the reg plates of the cars you see and give it to the management...they'll be fined and hopefully won't do it again.
Bloody cheek of them.

On what authority would a management company have to issue fines to non residents of an apartment block?

Probably via the council.

Similar thing happened to a neighbour (rubbish dumped on their site when building) and council traced via mail in bags. The dumpers were fined.

If they put it IN the bin though I'm not sure the council will progress it.

SSE

Theboinkmaster

It wouldn't bother me at all but i would report it to the managment company. Waste disposal charges are based on weight so they're incurring higher charges. It's up the them to take measures against this behaviour.

Your mgt fees wouldn't increase but they'd have less to spend elsewhere in the complex (or reduce their profit).

athtrasna

Theboinkmaster wrote: »

Your mgt fees wouldn't increase but they'd have less to spend elsewhere in the complex (or reduce their profit).

Management companies are strictly not for profit. All fees collected are re-invested in the development either by way of day to day services or capital investment such as painting, re-carpetting, roof repairs etc.

Zamboni

It is really up to the management company to restrict access sufficiently with the correct controls in place.
I doubt any council/gardai/litter warden would have any will to do the management companies job for them and/or issue fines for offences that occured on properties that are not under their jurasdiction.

Take it up with your managment company.
It is not your place to approach people who are dumping their waste and letting them know how you feel about them. You could be unnecessarily endangering yourself.

Del2005

Zamboni wrote: »

On what authority would a management company have to issue fines to non residents of an apartment block?

Zamboni wrote: »

It is really up to the management company to restrict access sufficiently with the correct controls in place.
I doubt any council/gardai/litter warden would have any will to do the management companies job for them and/or issue fines for offences that occured on properties that are not under their jurasdiction.

Take it up with your managment company.
It is not your place to approach people who are dumping their waste and letting them know how you feel about them. You could be unnecessarily endangering yourself.

We have bin alcoves in our complex, the place was built just before charges came in, which no one apart from scumbags use to dispose of all types of rubbish. I was going out to my car one day and a person was dumping their rubbish into the alcove.

Got their reg and called the MA, got a call back a few weeks later that from the MA saying they'd contacted the litter warden and gotten the persons address. The MA had sent them a letter saying they'd been caught littering and CC'd the litter warden, not sure what else happened to them.