Recycling in Woodhouse

My name is Alex and I am a student in Woodhouse. I first requested a recycling bin in September of 2006 when I first moved to the area. I visited the council offices and was told that the whole area would be receiving bins within the next six weeks and therefore it was not necessary to fill in a request form. I did so anyway as recycling is important to me and I wanted to be sure that my house would receive a bin.

Six weeks later I rang the refuse department and was told that there was no receipt of my request. I duly filled out another request form over the phone and then asked to be put through to the complaints department, as I felt that the dealing of said request had not been handled appropriately.

I received a letter acknowledging my complaint with a contact name – Tim Lakin; whom I recently contacted as I had not heard anything about either my original complaint, or my recycling bin. Mr. Lakin informed me that our area did not fall within the recycling catchment area and that was the reason why we had not received a bin. He also told me that there were no plans to extend the recycling scheme to the Woodhouse area, but that recycling stations were situated at our nearest supermarket – Morrisons, situated in the city centre. I appreciate that there is another recycling station in Meanwood, but as I have no access to a car it is not feasible for me to take bags of rubbish on public transport, this is simply not an option for me.

I have had various dialogue with other members of Leeds City Council and have also written to my local MP, yet nothing seems to be changing. Our household is still recycling - bags are piling up in our basement, which obviously is not an ideal situation, but at least recyclable material is not taking up unnecessary space in landfills.

I am attempting to set up a group for residents interested in recycling waste and highlighting to Leeds City Council the importance of it.

If you know anyone who could help or would be interested in participating in such a scheme, it would be much appreciated.

My email address is recycleforwoodhouse@hotmail.co.uk and my phone number is 07791 335683