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Public Cleansing Services.
One of the most important of the Borough's duties is that of Public Cleansing, For this,
the Borough Engineer and Surveyor is responsible; and as there are extremely close ties between
this Service and the Health and Welfare Services, a Report on the various activities of this related
Department is felt to be very appropriate.
Guiding Principles
In all its work dealing with Public Cleansing the Council has adopted certain objectives
which are:—
Maximum Service to the Public
Public cleansing in general affects everyone and failure to achieve and maintain satisfactory
services can result in serious public health and amenity problems for the community.
Dustless Collection
From public health and amenity points of view, it is regarded as essential that the transfer
of refuse from its source to point of disposal should be as dustless as possible. Such a policy
is clearly complementary to that of establishing smokeless, clean air zones, but it is admitted
that early methods of collection were often the source of offence and complaint to residents and
passers-by. The introduction of dustless collection has been retarded by difficulties which have
now been largely overcome as described later.
Refuse Collection
A total of 70,850 tons of refuse of all kinds was collected and dealt with in the Borough
during 1965-6, the service currently employing some 158 men and 37 vehicles at a net cost estimated
at £266,193 for the present financial year, this figure including £16,750 for the provision
of refuse bins and other improvements.
The men are allowed to go home on completion of the day's task. Protective clothing,
including boots, is provided and facilities for changing and showers are available at the two
main depots where the men report for work and join the vehicles to which they are allocated. It
has not yet been possible, since the formation of the new London Borough in April, 1965, to provide
the centralised facilities which are needed to enable maximum efficiency to be achieved,
but much has already been done to provide a uniform service throughout the Borough.
Domestic Refuse from Smaller Properties.
Refuse Bins
Refuse is accumulated by households in a variety of containers ranging, despite the
provisions of the Public Health Act, from normal dustbins to cardboard boxes. In adopting
the principle of dustless loading of refuse, the Council quickly realised that it was advantageous
to standardise on a type of bin which could be handled by a vehicle capable of emptying this
without dissemination of dust and without the previous removal of the lid. After much research
the Council decided on a plastic bin of 3¼ cu.ft. capacity with hinged metal lid, which had the
advantage of lightness of weight (21 lbs) as compared with the British Standard metal bin (28 lbs)
of similar capacity. It was estimated that the plastic bin was at least equal in life to the metal
bin and that the risk of damage by fire was relatively small. This in fact has proved to be the
case as the amount of damage through hot ash has been negligible.
This first type of plastic bin with metal lid has since been greatly improved so that it
is all plastic including hinged lid, and again much lighter (12½ lbs) than the earlier version.
The bins are provided by Dennis Brothers Ltd., but are manufactured by Thermoplastics Limited,
using a high density polythene on the injection moulding principle. They cost £3.9.9d. each.
Although empowered to make an annual charge not exceeding 7s.6d. the Council decided
to issue the new bins without charge in a phased programme which should be completed in eight
to nine years. By October, 1966, the southern part of the Borough will be completely dustless and
some 36,000 bins will have been issued. It is estimated that about 40,000 will be needed for the
northern part of the Borough. The introduction of the bins is being financed partly out of revenue
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