Memorandum by BBC Radio 4: You and Yours
(RC 57)
You and Yours is BBC Radio 4's flagship consumer
and social affairs programme broadcast between 12 noon and 1 pm
every week day lunchtime.
The programme has 3.181 million listeners per
week. Their average age is 59. 56.1% of You and Yours listeners
are female. 43.9% are male.
The social grading of listeners breaks down as follows:
INTRODUCTION
Between 24 April and 4 May, working in conjunction
with the House of Commons Select Committee looking into Refuse
Collection, we gave our listeners the unique opportunity to contribute
directly to the Committee's report looking at the refuse collection
via our phone in.
Our phone in programme `Call You & Yours'—
which invited listeners to air their views on their experience
of how rubbish is now collected?
Refuse Collection—was broadcast between 12.00—13.00
on Tuesday 1 May 2007 on BBC Radio 4. We asked our listeners to
give us their views on:
"measures such as fortnightly collections,
recycling schemes and pay as you throw proposals—what's
your experience of how your rubbish is now collected?"
RESPONSE
We had a large response as this is something
that has had a lot of media coverage. Over the course of two weeks
we received 611 emails and 224 calls and texts. They break down
into eight broad categories:
— 48% (400 listeners) were positive
in their experience of refuse collection and recycling opportunities,
many in favour of the two weekly collection and many suggested
other ways to recycle.
— 30% (246 listeners) were unhappy
with the way their refuse is collected, many making reference
to problems with rats and maggots.
— 12% (96 listeners) drew international
comparisons and felt other countries had a better system.
— 7% (56 listeners) had general
comments or questions.
— 2% (15 listeners) wanted uniformity
across the country.
— 0.2% (two listeners) said they
were against having to recycle their refuse.
— 0.2% (two listeners) said that
it's hard to recycle because too many bins look unsightly and
there is nowhere to put them.
— 1% (nine listeners) talked of
community scheme or charities that offered recycling services.
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