Editorial: Black bins should be tightly closed, across the board, and for waste hygiene reasons - even more than safety

​As we report on page 10 in today’s print edition, Belfast is introducing two rules on bins. (Link to online story below)

​The first is that black bins must not have internal bin liners – ie, liners within that large bin (as opposed to tied-up, filled bin liners taken from inside a bin within the property). The second is that bins must be shut.

The former rule will not affect many people because few people use such a large bin liner, which apparently has the intention of keeping the bin clean. The second rule should not affect many households, because there should be no reason for a bin to be bulging. But often bins are not fully closed.

What is troubling is the reason for this change. It is because of the freakishly unlikely scenario that someone is caught by a bin and killed by the crusher. This is so rare that it has barely ever happened in the UK, a nation of 70 million people.

It is of course right to minimise this risk, but the main way of doing so should be bin staff training and hydraulic safeguards and so on. The fact that this is being changed to eliminate an outcome that is far, far less likely than winning the lottery (which is itself exceptionally unlikely), suggests that Belfast would otherwise have continued to accept bins that are not properly closed (even though it is against council policy).

But it is already against council policy for very good reason. Bins that are overflowing are a hygiene hazard, and make it more likely that food etc will spill. This is one reason why you so often now see rats slithering around parked bins, particularly outside retail premises.

Invariably those who oppose such rules say bins have to overflow because collections are fortnightly. Nonsense. John McCallister, the former MLA, showed on these pages a decade ago how a family can easily use only a fraction of its black bin if it recycles properly.

We have a rodent problem that is closely linked to garbage policies. Bins should be closed tightly, across the board.