Harrogate businessman aims to clean up with private waste collection service

8 May 2014

A Harrogate businessman has launched a new private waste collection service for residents in the town.

His domestic and business waste collection service – known as Rubbish Service Ltd – will fill in between the fortnightly council-provided services for a small fee charged direct to customers.
The venture was born out of necessity for Andrew Brown, who has initiated the new service, when he found that his own household waste collections were insufficient after the introduction last year of the new fortnightly rubbish collection and wheelie bin regime. Yorkshire’s first ‘pay as you throw’ service, the scheme is expected to spark a new trend in the region for further smaller private waste collection services, which are becoming commonplace in the south of England.

Andrew said: Some households will produce more waste than others on a weekly basis, because they have more people in them, while others might benefit from occasional extra collections. Rubbish Service will cater for both of these categories of customer: we’re offering a flexible and very personal doorstep waste collection service.
Nationally, 71 per cent of householders want weekly collections, and our research shows that a similarly high level of demand exists in Harrogate. Just from conducting our market research into the viability of launching an extra waste collection service, we have already signed up dozens of keen customers, even before we get up and running.

Founder of the service, Andrew Brown, with two Rubbish Service operatives
Founder of the service, Andrew Brown, with two Rubbish Service operatives

The Rubbish Service offers private waste collections that cost as little as £5.50, with either weekly or fortnightly collection, and allows for up to three large plastic sacks, provided as part of the fee, to be collected from the doorstep or roadside for disposal and recycling.
Customers agree the day and location of the collection and pay by standing order or direct debit. Rubbish Service staff then collect the bagged waste in its distinctive ‘Rubbish Service’ branded bags from customers on a weekly or fortnightly schedule, depending on each client’s needs.

Andrew said: We are totally supportive of the move away from landfill and incineration towards more recycling, but the simple fact is that many households simply can’t cope with having their rubbish collected once a fortnight,” said Andrew.
Families tend to generate lots of non-recyclable waste and packaging during certain periods, such as when they have very young children and are using lots of nappies. Some customers, especially older or disabled people, have real problems manoeuvring heavy wheelie bins onto the kerbside, while others want to avoid having foul smelling bins hanging around with rotting waste, which can be unpleasant during warmer weather. We have seen strong demand from small businesses too. We want to be a friendly, regular visitor, and offer an old-fashioned, helpful service that we’re proud of.

The service is being trialled within HG1, HG2 and HG3 postcodes from the end of May, with a view to extending the service to other towns and boroughs in the future.

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