Recycling & Waste Collection Woes !

Agencies and other headaches, keys and cleaners, running costs and contracts...in short, all the things we spend so much of our time doing behind the scenes.<br>
Ripley
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Recycling & Waste Collection Woes !

Post by Ripley »

Hi all,

I would really welcome any advice on how to make guests recycle their rubbish.

My local council (East Devon) has recently reduced its main refuse collection to every THREE weeks! Recycling (glass, tins, paper and food is taken every week. ) This has presented me with major problems as no matter what I say/ do ( signs, strongly worded information booklet paragraph, reiterating in personal text messages and emails) guests continue to throw everything into the main bin and the rubbish stacks up. My holiday let sleeps up to 7 people - you can imagine the state of it after 3 weeks!!

Currently my angel of a cleaner is dealing with the situation by taking it to her husband's work, where there is a builders skip. But this is temporary and I have to find a solution.

Thanks in advance &#128522;
zebedee
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Post by zebedee »

My first thoughts would be a deposit which is returned if they follow your instructions regarding recycling and waste disposal.
I would give any unrefunded deposits to your cleaner as a bonus for the extra trouble she is put to.

My second thought is that some private waste collectors are not so interested in you sorting out the recycling(presume they manage this themselves), furthermore, they may be prepared to collect your rubbish more frequently than every three weeks. It might be worth paying a private contractor to get rid of the stress and your worry that your cleaner may be unprepared or unable to manage this alone in the future.
newtimber
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Post by newtimber »

There have been lots of discussions on this and I think the conclusion was that you should be paying a private contractor for the waste disposal from your business.

Your cleaner should also not be transporting waste from your business unless they have a waste carrier license.
Giraffe
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Post by Giraffe »

As newtimber says, if you are on business rates you are obliged either to use a private contractor or use someone with a waste disposal license. My private contractor collects after/during each set of visitors. I don't pay when the house is unoccupied - I just send a schedule for the collections.

My small business rates discount more than offsets the costs of waste collection. Some councils will provide a chargeable service if you are on business rates.
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greenbarn
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Post by greenbarn »

Giraffe wrote:As newtimber says, if you are on business rates you are obliged either to use a private contractor or use someone with a waste disposal license.
I could be wrong (or it may vary depending on local authority) but I have a feeling that it’s not a case of being on business rates or not, it’s the simple fact that it’s a business and therefore it’s trade waste which has to be dealt with differently from domestic waste - ie you have to pay.

Newtimber’s other point is also important - it’s illegal to move trade waste without a licence, furthermore there may be issues at the point of disposal if it’s mixed in with typical builder’s waste from a skip.
zebedee
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Post by zebedee »

Some local authorities will undertake your collections and charge you, I had assumed this was the arrangement that Ripley was currently working to.
If you get a quote from a private contractor, the local authorities will often undercut the quote to keep your business, so it can be worth a try.
I agree with the comments about the legal transport of waste (how could I not?) - my problem is about how self catering properties have been classed as producing commercial waste when in reality what goes in the non recycling bin is of far less variation, and certainly only part of what goes in my equivalent bin at home.
However, I am causing a serious thread creep here....... :oops:
Ripley
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Post by Ripley »

Thanks for all the comments.

I'm not on business rates, can I still arrange for private waste collections? Before the council changed the frequency of their collections waste wasn't a problem. I still believe that if guests actually recycled as per instructions, there wouldn't be an issue, despite the 3 week collection. But they don't, they throw away all sorts!
Giraffe
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Location: Cornwall, England

Post by Giraffe »

Greenbarn, you may well be right. I find the governemnt advice confusing. Their website on business rates regarding FHL states:

"If your property is in England and available to let for 140 days or more per year, it will be rated as a self catering property and valued for business rates"

I take it from this that you are only a "business" if you advertise availability for 140+ days.

On the govt business waste disposal website you find:

"What counts as business waste - Any waste that comes from a commercial activity is business waste"

I take it from this that waste from any holiday let is trade waste.

However, this doesn't solve Ripley's problem of guests not recycling properly. We all know that some visitors leave their brains behind when they go on holiday. A hefty whack from the deposit may focus their minds. Also, private waste contractors in Devon will be au fait with holidaymakers' household waste habits and will likely work with you to reduce the problems.
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Dusty
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Post by Dusty »

newtimber wrote: Your cleaner should also not be transporting waste from your business unless they have a waste carrier license.
So does that mean that when I am taking the glass bottles (which aren't collected by the waste collection) to the bottle bank from the gites I should have a license. The legislators have gone mad!
Ripley
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Post by Ripley »

I've had a complete revamp of the recycling system, including signs, bins, written instructions, the lot. On reflection I realised it wasn't the most straight forward and far easier for guests to just whack everything in the main bin (seriously though , slippers ?? A FULL UNUSED pack of nappies ??)

I'm going to pull the deposit card next season, but for now will see what my new "regime" has in the closing weeks.

The business rates thing bamboozles me. We didn't book 140 days last year but have actually surpassed that number this year. Due to the waste headache, I'm thinking it will be better financially to limit the amount of bookings I have than to go on business rates and pay for waste collection. But I degress on to another thread so I will shut up now !
Giraffe
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Post by Giraffe »

Ripley, re business rates it's not whether you TAKE 140 days of bookings, it's whether you ADVERTISE your holiday let for 140+ days in England. Slightly different in Wales. Like you, I originally thought (wrongly) that it was based on bookings. I found the government Valuation Office Agency very helpful in sorting out my business rates.

The rules for business rates qualification are different to the HMRC rules for their FHL business tax qualification. The latter include your bookings. Yes, confusing!

Even though I don't have a choice, I'm currently much better off on business rates. Instead of around £2,200 council tax I pay zero with the small business tax rebate.
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Nemo
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Post by Nemo »

You're right, we digress on to business rates, but the others are correct. Business rates are not optional. If you advertise enough days, you fit the criteria and need to register. It's very simple criteria and not confusing.
If your property is in England and available to let for 140 days or more per year, it will be rated as a self-catering property and valued for business rates.
https://www.gov.uk/introduction-to-busi ... ommodation

Re the recycling, the only way to really try and force the issue, if you're giving really clear instructions, is to hit them in the pocket. £50 refundable if all's well? We know holidaymakers don't like recycling and the rules are different across the UK so it's very confusing anyway. You could word it so that you blame the council saying they are really draconian, one guests refuse must not impact on the next guest if the refuse isn't collected etc etc; whatever it takes to get them on board!
akwe-xavante
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Post by akwe-xavante »

You could buy a "Waste Carriers Licence" yourself. £154 for the first three years then it reduces to a lot less than that after the first three years.

This allows you to legally move rubbish yourself.

Then find your nearest commercial tip that has a weighbridge and take your rubbish there. Ask for a "Waste transfer note".

They typically charge £1.20 inc VAT per 10KG and they sort out the recyclables themselves for you.

The advantages are that you'll save an awful lot of money and you don't have to sort out the recyclables yourself and you can take the rubbish to the tip as little and as often as you like.

This is a legal way of processing your business waste yourself. You must save your waste transfer notes for a minimum of 6yrs.

The only other mandatory requirements are that you must have a hard hat and a reflective tabard when visiting a commercial recycling centre (£20 tops and a one off purchase that will last for years).
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