What's it like when you have five bins?

Putting the bins out is a weekly chore for most of us, but how do you cope when you have five?

Brian Spraggs, 84, says he relies on neighbours in his row of terraced houses to tell him which one to put out.

He lives in Buntingford in East Hertfordshire, which, with neighbouring North Hertfordshire, introduced a new bin regime a year ago.

"We used to have two bins for recycling – and now we have four! " he says.

"Look at all these bins outside everyone's front windows... it's been so hot, the neighbours had maggots in theirs."

Brian Spraggs says he finds the number of bins confusing [Nicola Haseler/BBC]

Residents must now separate their waste into five different bins, four of which are now collected only once every three weeks.

They have new food waste bins and smaller residual waste bins, alongside three larger recycling bins.

As well as the new bins, there has been a new collection schedule to get used to [East Herts Council]

The two district councils say it has improved recycling rates and cut landfill waste – by 48% in East Hertfordshire and 18% in North Hertfordshire.

The latter has had a food waste recycling scheme in place for eight years, making the further reduction "a great result", according to a spokesperson.

Residents can use a council app to remind them which bin goes out each week.

The biggest reduction in landfill waste has come from a weekly collection of food waste, which is sent to an anaerobic digester to generate energy.

So what do other Buntingford residents think?

Sarah Coldicott has to put her five bins at the front of her house [Ant Saddington/BBC]

Sarah Coldicott says all the bins are unsightly.

"I don't mind doing it but mine are at the front of the house and it's not pretty, plus we've had maggots in the hot weather," she says.

"If I'm on holiday the binmen are pretty good and they'll just pull the right bin off my driveway."

Lesley has signed up for reminders on the council app [Nicola Haseler/BBC]

Lesley, meanwhile, is finding the new three-weekly bin collection easy to follow.

"I get a text on Thursday afternoon saying which bin to put out, and I have a colour-coded log on my calendar," she says.

"We're lucky we've got a side passage so they're out of the way... I don't think I'd like them all in front of my house."

Green Party councillor Tim Hoskin says the results of the new waste collection system have been "astonishing" [Nicola Haseler/BBC]

Tim Hoskin, a Green Party councillor and executive member for environmental sustainability on East Herts Council, admits the change was "a bit lumpy" at first.

"It was quite a dramatic change.... we looked at what the 'best of' was and what legislation was coming towards us and did it all in one hit so we're now in the lead in terms of the practices we've got in place."

The two authorities introduced the new bin regime ahead of new legislation requiring weekly food waste collections for all homes in England.

Residents in terraced houses in Buntingford have to keep all their bins in front of their homes [Ant Saddington/BBC]

But the BBC found dozens of councils were still not ready to provide the service by the 31 March deadline.

A number of authorities have admitted to difficulties with the new collection schedules, including East Suffolk, where people have complained about missed collections.

Like many other councils, East Herts charges for collecting garden waste.

On the new system, Hoskin says: "One of our biggest concerns was that people would find it confusing but actually it resolves into a pattern quite quickly."

If a bin has a mix of recycled material, it can't be emptied into the lorry [Ant Saddington/BBC]

We follow one of the waste collection crews along Monks Walk.

They are unable to take some of the bins because the waste is "contaminated", meaning it has different types of recycling in it.

One homeowner says the new system is "a joke" and that he will be complaining to the council.

Waste operative Shane Darcy has noticed less landfill waste being taken to the tip.

"The paper and card collections are a lot lighter so we can get more on the lorries," he says.

"When it was all together it filled up quicker, meaning we'd have to make more trips back to the tip... so we're using less fuel now."

Spraggs, meanwhile, has another concern. If he goes on holiday, does that mean his bin won't be collected for six weeks?

He needn't worry, according to Darcy, who tells us: "If we see the bin, we'll empty it if it's there."

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