Barbican Living
Rubbish
"Bulky refuse such as cartons will still need to be removed by porters, say, once a fortnight, and stored in the collection station ready for removal to the Refuse Depot."
Chamberlin, Powell & Bon, Architects "Barbican Redevelopment" April 1959
When the architects were designing the Estate, we must have been a much more frugal people - but once a fortnight?
Normal refuse collections
Refuse of the sort you can put in a bag will be collected from the refuse cupboard by the cleaner. The Barbican used to use special brown paper bags, but apparently some of us used to leave wet stuff in them that leaked on the landings. Now it's black bin liners for most stuff and see-through plastic bags for paper. (But you can still have the paper bags if you want.) Collections take place every weekday morning. Refuse should only be left out on these days and before breakfast.
The see through plastic bags are used for recyclable items, and these include drink cartons, paper, cardboard, glass, tins and cans, and plastic bottles. You should rince any of the containers.
Recycling
The City of London provides recycling facilities in the estate. The City provides a lot of very detailed recycling advice. I am not going to try to give you details or contact numbers, because I expect they will change. If you are thinking of throwing out perfectly usable things, such as books, CDs, furniture, clothes, household goods - you get the picture - the City suggests you should contact Toynbee Hall which is a local charity helping people in Tower Hamlets. You can get details from the Barbican Estate Office.
There is a special bin in Bunyan, Thomas More and Willoughby car parks for discarding fluorescent tubes and low energy light bulbs (which you aren't allowed to put in your waste any more).
Large white goods
If you have a washing machine to get rid of, you don't have to get some friends to help you take it out at midnight and dump it near Waitrose any longer. You can arrange to have 'white goods' collected for free, but you must make advance arrangement with the Barbican Estate Office. (Their advice on the subject says that “washing machines and dishwashers must be emptied and dried before being removed, to ensure water does not leak during removal causing damage to floors and carpets.” It seems that some Barbican residents are none too bright. These are probably the same residents who thought emptying cups of tea into the brown paper bags before putting the rubbish out was a reasonable idea (see above).
