Give it, Don’t Bin it
As you’re preparing to move out, you’ll probably find that you have more stuff than you realise. Unfortunately this means that your recycling and waste bins will quickly fill up as you decide to not take home some of the more unnecessary items you’ve collected over your university career.
Due to the large student population in South Manchester and everyone’s tenancies ending at the end of June, seeing large amounts of rubbish piled outside houses and by communal bins has become all too common. Beyond this being an aesthetic problem, it means hundreds of tonnes of potentially useful items are being sent to landfill.
However, if you plan ahead, this doesn’t need to be the case and the council has plenty of services to help.
Manchester City Council run the Give it, Don’t Bin it service so you can donate any unwanted clothes, books, electricals and unopened, non-perishable food to charity.
On Thursday 29th and Friday 30th June Manchester City Council along with Biffa, British Heart Foundation, Manchester Student Homes, University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University will set up 8 donation points. They can be found on the following streets:
Landcross Road – Fallowfield
Brailsford Road – Fallowfield
Withington Library – Old Moat
Lombard Grove – Old Moat
Whitby Road – Withington
Booth Avenue – Withington
Monica Grove – Burnage
Hathersage Road – Ardwick
If you have large items that you can’t recycle and won’t fit in your bins, then you can make use of the council’s bulky waste collection service.
If you have excess rubbish then you can arrange for a private refuse company to dispose of it but you have a duty of care to ensure that rubbish is properly transported and disposed of. There is advice on the council website about disposing of waste and how to find a registered waste carrier. You can be prosecuted, or receive a £400 Fixed Penalty Notice, if you pass your rubbish or unwanted items to a rubbish collector/waste carrier without checking they are registered.
The council has no obligation to remove items that do not fit in your own or communal recycling bins, that responsibility falls on the occupiers, or if left after the tenancy has ended, the landlord. This means MCR Move or the landlord will have to arrange for any rubbish not in bins to be removed and the cost of doing so will be claimed against your deposit.
So plan ahead, start de cluttering now and avoid any fines from the council or deposit deductions.
