Waste collection

heretolearn_2

Thanks so far.

we as an office produce about 2-3 black sacks (normal bin bag size) a week, we have no outside storage area.

we pay per bag but they keep slapping extra fees on us, one is some pre-waste treatment admin charge of about £40 a year, and another is over £100 for a waste license. None of these extras were mentioned in our contract. we had to switch to them as the previous collectors closed down. Council does not do commercial waste collection, they recommend a company called Enterprise, but when I called that company they said they don't contract directly only through councils. called the council who said they cant help and we have to arrange collection ourselves!

will try the suggestions here.

I know we need waste license/transfer notes/EPA registration or something - at least that is what they are telling me. - do we have to do them through the collectors or can we do ourselves? PHS did say we didn't have to pay them for the license, but that leaves us open to prosecution. if there's a free or cheaper option, can you please tell me? Is it our responsibility or theirs as the transporters? I've tried googling the EPA info but just getting more confused.

snowman2_2

GSXR6 wrote: »

Sorry to be off topic- Snowman2, tried to PM you but says "not allowed", any idea why the discount pet care thread has vanished?

Sorry but not sure about PM's. Had them in the past and no idea why the thread has gone.

Back to the original thread, one of our local councils has just send a letter around asking if anyone is interested in recycling. I do cardboard / paper with one council and the other is asking about glass / plastic / cans / paper.

Do Biffa and the others have a long notice period? Our council is only 1 month notice and the thought of a 6 month period has put me off changing

blue_monkey_2

I have heard that you can buy sacks from the local council and they come and collect them. Is quite cheap, call your loca council offices.

Also, you might not have any storage there but maybe someone has a discreet corner in their garden they can keep a bag. With 2-3 bags a week it would easily take you 3 months to fill the skip bags that I get. Do you really have no storage at all? What do you do with your rubbish now?

greyteam1959

snowman2 wrote: »

Sorry but not sure about PM's. Had them in the past and no idea why the thread has gone.

Back to the original thread, one of our local councils has just send a letter around asking if anyone is interested in recycling. I do cardboard / paper with one council and the other is asking about glass / plastic / cans / paper.

Do Biffa and the others have a long notice period? Our council is only 1 month notice and the thought of a 6 month period has put me off changing

Biffa have a 3 month notice period.

leveller2911

mervyn11 wrote: »

Biffa have a 3 month notice period.

As did/does PHS and they will do all they can not to let you leave.....;)

Savvy_Sue

heretolearn wrote: »

Council does not do commercial waste collection, they recommend a company called Enterprise, but when I called that company they said they don't contract directly only through councils. called the council who said they cant help and we have to arrange collection ourselves!

I'd try one more phone call to each: at Enterprise I'd ask to speak to the person who liaises with the council over the council contracts ... and find out who at the Council they liaise with. And at the Council I'd ask to speak to that person and tell them what Enterprise told you first time around.

jwil

heretolearn wrote: »

Thanks so far.

we as an office produce about 2-3 black sacks (normal bin bag size) a week, we have no outside storage area.

we pay per bag but they keep slapping extra fees on us, one is some pre-waste treatment admin charge of about £40 a year, and another is over £100 for a waste license. None of these extras were mentioned in our contract. we had to switch to them as the previous collectors closed down. Council does not do commercial waste collection, they recommend a company called Enterprise, but when I called that company they said they don't contract directly only through councils. called the council who said they cant help and we have to arrange collection ourselves!

will try the suggestions here.

I know we need waste license/transfer notes/EPA registration or something - at least that is what they are telling me. - do we have to do them through the collectors or can we do ourselves? PHS did say we didn't have to pay them for the license, but that leaves us open to prosecution. if there's a free or cheaper option, can you please tell me? Is it our responsibility or theirs as the transporters? I've tried googling the EPA info but just getting more confused.

Are you recycling anything? The pre-treatment regulations mean you must 'pre treat' your waste before sending it to landfill. The easiest way to do this would be to recycle something. If you are recycling something, then your waste is pre-treated, and so I can't see how they can charge you an admin fee.

Everytime you hand your waste over to a collection company, you and they should complete a waste transfer note. This details the type of waste you are transferring to them and what is going to be happening to it. This shows the EA that you are legally disposing of your waste and not taking it home to dispose of in household rubbish, or flytipping it. The document is a legal requirement (on their part as well as yours), but it sounds to me like they are trying to charge you for storing it - a common charge. You do not need them to store it, you can store it yourself. They can give you a copy of the waste transfer note and you can keep it in your own filing cabinet.

As you are an office, I would imagine that your waste must consist mainly of paper - you could potentially save yourself a lot of money by recycling your paper and other materials. Landfill is very expensive.

My local council has a page of advice on business waste - http://www.somersetwaste.gov.uk/pages/tradewaste_search.asp I know it's not local to you, but the advice still stands, even if the contractors do not operate in your area.

paulwf

Perhaps speak to your PHS rep and see if a 240L (domestic size) wheelie bin would be cheaper, this takes 3-4 bags so you might be able to get a collection a fortnight if you pack it carefully and perhaps take some recycling home Keep it clean and it won't be a problem having a bin inside.

In my experience waste collectors all seem much of a muchness with their charges creeping up, and PHS keep buying up all the alternatives anyway.

heretolearn_2

thanks, lots to think about, I'm still a bit confused about it all but will dig out all the paperwork for a proper look. We can't have wheelie bin etc as we are 1st floor offices, all we have is a doorway on a main street. At the moment we stack the rubbish bags up in our kitchen and take out once a week.

We used to have different bags for recycling paper etc from our last waste collector (who shut down) but PHS don't let us separate it at our end, there's one bag for everything, which isn't great. so presumably they sort it their end and charge us for it!

Biffa sound ok when I rang them. Their annual charge is lower but need to compare per bag fee to get overall costs.