“Two bin men have been seriously injured by broken glass discarded in the rubbish.

 “One suffered a one-and-a-half inch gash to his arm from a broken bottle sticking out of a refuse bag collected in Pound Hill last week.

“Another man needed emergency treatment after an eight inch piece of glass at Langley Green left him seriously injured in September.

It’s a serious issue and one that should not be treated lightly, as if it were just a risk of the job. But how should householders dispose of broken glass and other sharp items?

Many Local Authorities reject broken glass, even broken glass jars and bottles, from recycling collections since there may be a risk to those involved in collection especially if recyclables are sorted at the kerbside. The poor householder will be in a quandary as those intact and otherwise acceptable glass bottles are thrown into collection bins almost certainly shattering in the process!

Broken glass may be taken to community recycling points but this is neither practical nor safe if it entails carrying broken glass through the streets. The immediate alternative is to place it into a black sack, heavily wrapped in newspaper or cardboard, but even so accidents may happen and not everyone will take the necessary care.

Interestingly, the news report contains an additional comment from the Local Authority representative.

“The council also urged caution when disposing of knives and other sharp objects such as needles.

“Needles can be disposed of at Crawley Hospital Planned Treatment Reception or the council can provide a sharps box and a regular safe collection service free of charge.

It’s an interesting issue, since it is almost unimaginable that a Local Authority would supply a sharps bin to a resident except for the disposal of used needles. Other sharps would simply not be considered for collection and disposal.

You can’t have it both ways, its either sharps safey or money……!