SB: General trade waste

Stu666

Just opened my new shop and I'm very surprised to find that trade waste collection isn't included in business rates.

Question is, who should I use to collect my general trade waste? The council do offer it as a paid service, but are there any private firms I should be looking at?

dacouch

I would probably look at who the surrounding shops use for their waste (Their bins should be easy enough to find) and ask for quotations from two or preferably three of them

ukbill69

Do you have a load of flat above or behind the shop?, then get a bin the same as them and put it out when its rubbish day. Dont get charged then.

borders_dude

Speak to some of your business neighbours, Im sure they will divulge their waste info, its not like it would affect their business unless you are a direct compeitor,

Speak to the Council and find out how much and what service they offer, and also get a couple of quotes from private firms.

Make a balanced and informed decision, the cheapest is not always the best option!

dacouch

ukbill69 wrote: »

Do you have a load of flat above or behind the shop?, then get a bin the same as them and put it out when its rubbish day. Dont get charged then.

You get a nice big fine from the council if they discover you are putting trade waste in the domestic waste

wuckfit

ukbill69 wrote: »

Do you have a load of flat above or behind the shop?, then get a bin the same as them and put it out when its rubbish day. Dont get charged then.

Whatever you do, DON'T do this. if the council catch you, they'll prosecute you for illegally dumping rubbish. the fine for this can be as much as £5000.
Also domestic bins are collected once a week or fortnight. Trade waste is usually uplifted every day.
Contact your local council and find out what the charge is for refuse sacks. in Glasgow last year it was £80+vat for 100 sacks for example. I rarely put more than one bag out a week, but if you have a lot of trade waste, a proper contract bin might be the answer.
Get quotes from other waste collection companies, as well. However if you're not generating much waste then the council will probably be the cheapest. whoever you go with, you'll have to sign a waste transfer agreement form as well as a legal requirement.

Rolo_Tomasi

I was also surprised that my business rates did not cover this - what are they for? However, apparently it is an offense not to have a trade refuse agreement but this does not have to be with the local council. You need to determine how much waste you will produce and then, as others have said, shop around for the best deal. You may not need a weekly collection - perhaps a smaller bin on a fortnightly basis would be sufficient.

moneypooh

ukbill69 wrote: »

Do you have a load of flat above or behind the shop?, then get a bin the same as them and put it out when its rubbish day. Dont get charged then.

great advice - NOT!

Savvy_Sue

Rolo_Tomasi wrote: »

However, apparently it is an offense not to have a trade refuse agreement but this does not have to be with the local council.

And should anyone doubt whether or not they check, we have had a visit from the Environmental Health Officer asking to see ours.

Rolo_Tomasi wrote: »

You need to determine how much waste you will produce and then, as others have said, shop around for the best deal. You may not need a weekly collection - perhaps a smaller bin on a fortnightly basis would be sufficient.

good advice. Also consider what kind of waste it is, and whether any of it can be recycled. We have ours collected by a company who recycle most of it, and we pay by the bag - they sell us bags, we put them out full of separated cardboard, tins, bottles, plastic, paper etc. We have a mini garden shed where we store the bags until collection day, then we leave them out. We have a traditional dustbin for non recyclables, and again we pay by the bag. This company will also do special pickups, eg when we refitted the work kitchen they disposed of the old units, recycling where possible.

One other question to ask is whether any bins provided will be lockable. If not, other people WILL use them.

Whatever you do, do NOT use Waste Tech!

moneypooh

We also sign an agreement every year and this has to be kept for inspection. We use a well known waste management company and they provide different types of service and we choose which we want. Our needs have changed over the years and they have accommodated them very well.

wuckfit

Just to add, the rules and regulations regarding trade waste are very complex.
Normally you will be expected to put out your waste in time for a collection window, and if your waste is regularly left on the kerb outwith this time then the environmental inspectors can make life difficult. However this may vary from council to council.

As I posted before, certainly in Glasgow at least, trade waste lorries come round every day Monday to Friday (and most Saturday mornings), so that you don't have to build up a collection of rubbish for a weekly or fortnightly uplift. It's surprising how much rubbish even a small business can generate.

to be honest, for the cost of the refuse sacks, which will probably last a year or so it's not a massive cost. and in the meantime you can investigate other companies to see if you can get a cheaper, better service.