Small Business...Waste Disposal!?!

icecreamcastle

Hello,

I am in the process of starting up a 'one man band' home maintenance business and want to be prepared when it comes to commerical waste? I will not be generating enough income to have a yard and it will only be the 'big jobs' where i generate a considerable amount of waste (e.g: fencing job...van full). I have a garage i can store waste in until it is time to clear.

Basically my question is what is the best, economical option for a small business like this to dispose of any commerical waste? Any idea of costs?

Many thanks in advance for all your responses.

CynicalScotsman

Please remember that when you are transporting any commercial waste you need a license.

icecreamcastle

Many thanks for your reply. I have been reading up on the licence too and it seems even if you change a light bulb and take the blown one away you need a licence!?! I'm looking to do everything by the book but these laws could possibly stop people making an honest living. Hopefully i can get my head around it soon.

leveller2911

CynicalScotsman wrote: »

Please remember that when you are transporting any commercial waste you need a license.

Although you are correct Ive been in business for nearly 25 years and never bought a licence.Ive never been stopped and check and I feel agrieved that commercial vehicles are singled out.

Why should I pay a premiuim to take waste to the tip ?, I pay tax,National insurance class 2 & 4 and at the end of the day I haven't generated the waste the client has and if they were to transport the waste to the tip in their car then its free of charge.How does the licence stop the fly-tippers? they won't bother paying one and as they never seem to carry out stop checks it seems a total waste and another stealth tax.

OP I would suggest that any timber waste you have advertise it as many people can use it on their woodburners, or even better get one yourself and be Carbon Nuetral.

leveller2911

icecreamcastle wrote: »

Many thanks for your reply. I have been reading up on the licence too and it seems even if you change a light bulb and take the blown one away you need a licence!?! I'm looking to do everything by the book but these laws could possibly stop people making an honest living. Hopefully i can get my head around it soon.

I'm afraid thats a result of the past 20 years of poor government who didn't and still don't support small business..

My advice is go for it, be honest with your tax, business allowances etc but I wouldn't bother with the waste carriers licence.You could get a wheelie bin which have a capacity of around 1100 litres , choose to have it emptied either fortnightly or monthly but beware their are some sharks out there.. PHS Wastetec being one of them , I think there are a few threads on here about them and I have personal experience of them.

icecreamcastle

I agree about the fly tippers - it seems these laws are just going to hit the law abiding citizens even harder in the pocket. It seems crazy that i have a van but when i help out a friend or relative, we have to load up their car 5 times and try not to trash it all because it's too much grief doing the one trip in my van to the dump!

Anyway, any suggestions of how i can dispose of the commerical waste would be greatly appreciated - can i pay per van load at a dump for example?

CynicalScotsman

Why should I pay a premiuim to take waste to the tip ?,

I'm looking to do everything by the book but these laws could possibly stop people making an honest living

I would advise the license. If you are caught you can be fined up to £200,000 per offence and could end up in prison, search for Vessosso & Zanetti[1990], the leading case law in this area.

icecreamcastle

Silly question but how big is 1100 litres roughly in square feet or metres? Roughly what are the prices? Would it have to be collected weekly or monthly (i guess there's a charge each time) or can i give them a call once it's full?

icecreamcastle

How much is the licence? Do you have to qualify?

leveller2911

icecreamcastle wrote: »

I agree about the fly tippers - it seems these laws are just going to hit the law abiding citizens even harder in the pocket. It seems crazy that i have a van but when i help out a friend or relative, we have to load up their car 5 times and try not to trash it all because it's too much grief doing the one trip in my van to the dump!

Anyway, any suggestions of how i can dispose of the commerical waste would be greatly appreciated - can i pay per van load at a dump for example?

Yes you can pay at the tip but many tips won't take things like Gyproc boards which is a bit strange as many farmers plough in waste gypsum on their fields so I can't quite understand that one.

Your problem may be where to keep the waste until you have a van load.Skips are expensive a 6yd builders skip down here is aroung £200-00 a time ......

leveller2911

icecreamcastle wrote: »

Silly question but how big is 1100 litres roughly in square feet or metres? Roughly what are the prices? Would it have to be collected weekly or monthly (i guess there's a charge each time) or can i give them a call once it's full?

You quite often see 1100L wheelies on industrial estates and resturants, they are around 1100mm high x 1000mm deepx 1000mmwide... Rough cost per lift would be around £17-00 but on top of that less scrupulous companies like PHS will also charge you £130-00(per year) for a "Duty of care" certificate which should be free , also its a contract for around 12months and some like PHS will do alsorts of underhanded measures so you can't cancel so beware.They will also raise the tariff for each lift without telling you, not turn up to do the lift but bill you for it..I you had a lift once per month and you need extra you can phone to arrange extra lifts.
For us it was soon clear that we needed a skip rather than a wheelie bin.