THAT'LL teach me I thought to myself.

Another wheelie bin gets stolen and I have a moan about it in my column. Do I get sympathy from my editor? Nope.

Next thing I know is I get sent to spend the morning at North Lanarkshire Waste Management depot.

"You're going where?" My daughter is never usually stuck for words, but on this occasion she shook her head at my pending visit.

On arrival at the depot; I was greeted by Sam Clarke, corporate communications manager at North Lanarkshire Council, who had arranged my visit.

After a quick hello and: "By the way Janice, thanks for slating the Council," we entered the offices where I was introduced to Hugh Frew, the assistant area manager.

Now Hugh was well prepared for my visit and had a high viz vest for me to wear, as well as gloves and a hard hat.

First stop was the store where I was surrounded by every colour of wheelie bin, and, as Hugh explained: "We 'recycle' our own bins."

Apparently, they take lids and wheels off old bins and remake them into new ones. And I suppose this makes perfect sense being in the world of recycling.

I was then introduced to a fit looking Scott Knox, storeman and refuse collector who was proud to inform me than he and his colleagues walk an average of 12 miles a day while following the refuse trucks.

And I must admit, I had never imagined the vast distance they cover on foot during a shift.

Now, from an early age, I always longed to be an HGV driver, so you can imagine how excited I was to be given the opportunity to sit inside the cab of this enormous yellow Mercedes refuse truck.

"12 miles to the gallon?" I repeated, as I stepped up into the low entry cab (Which for my wee legs was a blessing).

The environmentally friendly truck had air conditioning, adjustable leather seating which looked out of an enormous panoramic window.

And the technology was second to none as it had an electronically adjustable convex and concave mirror system with video cameras on every corner of the truck to assist the driver in viewing the surrounding areas at all times, making safety a priority.

And the noise control of the engine was much quieter than I remembered as a child.

Hugh was very informative.

"From this one depot these trucks will work seven days a week covering two rotating shifts," he said.

"Which means that the trucks are rarely sitting idle.

"We have 10 crews, one crew being a driver and two refuse collectors."

"And how many wheelie bins do you empty in a day?" I was keen to know.

"Within the North Lanarkshire area, we uplift from 20,000 properties, do 100 special uplifts and 70 electrical uplifts," Hugh was proud to inform me.

I was then encouraged to have a go at attaching the wheelie bin to the back of the truck, which I thought looked easy peasy.

However, I was amazed at the speed at which the device whisked the bin from my hand before tipping it upside down.

Before I left, Hugh presented me with two 'new' recycled wheelie bins (and a miniature one for my desk), which I was over the moon with.

So thank you everyone for an interesting couple of hours at the depot.

I learned a lot and ... who would have guessed that anyone could have been so thrilled to receive a wheelie bin.