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Green waste disposal questions

just a few questions ive started to ponder recently,

my local greenwaste site charges around £35 for a load on a transit tipper will give reciept as my vehicles half the size he only asks for £20 cash obviously but says if i want a reciept it will be £35 im starting to get miffed with this as green waste is one of my highest out goings by law can i ask for a reciept?

I've also noticed that some people on here get charged by the weight rather than volume is this quite normal to be charged by weight?

In relation to charging it to customers has anyone got a simple method ie an hour of my time+waste cost+fuel=cost to customer? or any suggestions how to factor it in recently found a company local to me is charging £40 a ton bag for waste where as others just charge the cost of getting rid of the waste.

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  • Well down here in Essex I have a site which charges £20 cash if receipt required add VAT to it. most of my work is contract so I have to swallow any extra waste costs if the grass grows more than normal.

    For any domestic works I can get away with charging £5 a bulk bag filled to as much as I can lift. I am upfront about this to my customers so they know from the start. I can normally get 20+ bags in the back of the van when I do waste runs so it more than covers my cost for disposal. 

    • That's fair enough but your vehicles a massive sprinter I've got the bed on the back of my truck 6x6 not huge. I would pay £24 if I got a receipt otherwise I'm taxed on it as I can't prove its an expense.
  • PRO

    1. I assume he is pocketing the £20 and just letting you tip as its a small vehicle so makes not much difference, If they have a minimum charge then you would have to pay up and get a receipt, pay VAT etc.

    2. I think a lot of sites will charge by volume or vehicle size, but probably measure by weight for their own records. That is the case with Veolia round here. Some will do solely by weight but with a tiered system. Others may do by volume only with no weighing. 

    3. I usually charge £10 per bulk bag for waste or £45 for an 8x5 full trailer load (£25 for half load). For small bits I will just add it in to the job. My waste costs are £15 for a trailer load which is very good value. I was paying double that in Leeds. But Veloia process and then retail the waste as compost etc. so they are making from it at the other end.

    I find the waste aspect a welcome and profitable part of the business and offer green waste removal services as a stand alone service. Fairly quick and simple but something customers certainly don't want to deal with themselves so will pay well for the service.  

    • 1. Nope he puts it all in like a letter box deposit box so big boss is probably pocketing it, he has a helicopter haha.

      2.im tempted to ask to pay vat on top of my load my bed is only 5,10x6ft so not huge with sides. Problem is paying cash no receipt so I'm getting charged tax on that as it looks like I'm taking a wage.

      3. I'm going to start charging £10 a bulk bag then £50 for my waste loads from now on per a load.
  • PRO

    I just pay to get through the gate. £45 for my LWB Hi roof transit it was £25 for my Vauxhall Combo. They don't weigh the load once its dumped either all goes through a Doppstadt then is sold as mulch, but I'd never buy any.

  • My local set up charges me £10 a van load, or £20 + VAT if you want a receipt. If I did get a trailer (I asked), I would go on the weighbridge and get charged on a sliding scale with a receipt provided every time. I'm not sure what the charges are though.

    I'm certain the operator just pockets any cash sales, and considering I've got full size lorries dropping off ton's of waste at a time by the side of me, the odd van is small fry!

    I charge £10 a bulk bag too, and up to about £30 for a full van load. It's amazing what you can pack in to a van when your paying £10 per van load!

    This by the way is the NW of England

     

    • PRO

      just messaged you Andrew

  • I did a hedge cutting job ( Leylandii and Laurel) which filled up the back of my Toyota Hilux. I charged £60 plus my labour to take it away to the Council Tip where I paid £36 including VAT. The customer was reasonably happy with the waste charges as the Council have just changed our recycling scheme so she was aware of the costs of taking waste away.
  • PRO
    Just pay the full charge get your receipt and charge all to customer. That's what I do. some people don't like it but that's tough!! Offer to get skips in for the waste if they don't like £35 plus time and fuel. That was the only way I could make my customers understand that waste costs are high!!
    • PRO

      The way I explain waste charges to a client, if the house holder creates the waste the local council will send 3 men and an articulated lorry out and collect the waste for them (for free), however if I create the same waste and bring it to them they charge me for the pleasure.

      Some of the councils in NI don't charge for waste after a ruling against 'Ards and North Down' Council, a contractor argued that his waste wasn't commercial as it came out of domestic gardens and not commercial properties and that the charge was 'unfair' as a result some of the council now do not charge...  

      However I have 3 local councils around me, one charges £65 per ton, then £45 per ton then the last one is free. 

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