In an attempt to avoid punishing landfill taxes local authorities are setting up hundreds of mini recycling centres on residential streets.
In addition, some councils have stopped the door to door collections altogether, in favour of communal bins placed at intervals along each street.
Brighton and Hove began trails of communal bins in 2003 and have extended the scheme. Manchester has also started trials.
However many residents suffer as bins are placed directly outside their homes - blighting their properties and reducing their value.
Some homeowners are engaging in "bin chess" moving rubbish bins further down the street after dark.
New homeowners should be aware that the Code for Sustainable Homes encourages new developments to have communal bins for at least three different types of waste
and suggests they should be no more than 10 metres from the entrance door of a block of apartments.