Bin company cuts collections by 50%

Kashkai

AES took over my bin collection about 18 months ago (from the previous and very reliable bin company who passed on their collection service to AES). AES have not been very good at the weekly bin collection, especially last christmas time and during the snow last year when we went 4 weeks without a collection.

We were informed last week that they will now only be collecting the rubbish twice monthly with a collection in between for "recyclables". "This is to comply with Dept of the Environment regulations" and "to encourage recycling". This is complete bull poop as I know someone who works in that Department and there are no such regulations issued. It is more likely because the charges for bringing rubbish to landfills have risen and thus AES are cutting back on their rubbish collections to reduce their own costs - without a corresponding reduction in what I had to pay them, i.e. €400 at the start of the year.

Is there anything I can do about this, i.e. they sought payment in full at the start of the year for a weekly bin collection service, which they have now reduced by 50%. There are 7 of us in this house and so our bin is full every week despite my "environmentally friendly" wife recycling as much as possible.

slimjimmc

Every second week seems to be standard, many operators are doing that so I doubt you'll find a competitor guaranteeing a weekly service. There's no way they're going to reinstate weekly collect to suit a handful of customers, much cheaper for you or them to terminate the contract.
If you did terminate the contract where would that leave you? Bringing it to the dump yourself could be more expensive since many facilities charge a minimum rate. You could order a larger bin which might tide you over to the next collection, but that might bump up the cost.

I would have thought that a fortnightly collection would be adequate for the average 2+3 family. Perhaps a more rigorous review of what goes in the bin would help your dilemma. You'd be amazed how much binned waste can be recycled e.g. aluminium foil/trays, all plastic wrappings/trays, kitchen tissue, waste food.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Every second week is almost standard now.

We have 5 in the house and use a tag system, with us only leaving the bin out once every 6 week. Filling a bin every week is crazy. You need to look at where all that waste is coming from.

amdublin

Technically is it not still weekly collections?
Ie. Recyclables one week, regular rubbish the other.

Just a matter of you managing your rubbish now.

Better for the environment.

ShooterSF

amdublin wrote: »

Technically is it not still weekly collections?
Ie. Recyclables one week, regular rubbish the other.

Just a matter of you managing your rubbish now.

Better for the environment.

Yes having bags of household waste lying around residential areas waiting an extra week for pick up and/or going back to burning rubbish is much better for the environment.

Surely OP has a right to a refund of what's left of their contract as the provider is changing terms.

amdublin

ShooterSF wrote: »

Yes having bags of household waste lying around residential areas waiting an extra week for pick up and/or going back to burning rubbish is much better for the environment.

Surely OP has a right to a refund of what's left of their contract as the provider is changing terms.

It's not lying around It's in these big solid black wheely bins.

kippy

ShooterSF wrote: »

Yes having bags of household waste lying around residential areas waiting an extra week for pick up and/or going back to burning rubbish is much better for the environment.

Surely OP has a right to a refund of what's left of their contract as the provider is changing terms.

Every second week for "general" waste is pretty standard here in Galway anyway (with city bin) and has been since I moved here (5+ years ago)
We have a "green" "brown" and "grey" bin.
Plastics, Paper, Cardboard and tins in the green bin.
Food and plant matter only in the brown bin.
Glass, clothes, electronics, batteries and most other bigger objects to the numerous recycling facilities around town.
Everything else (which doesnt tend to be that much at all to be honest) into the more than adequately sized grey bin.
Grey bin collected every 2nd week, brown and green, every second week.
There is a bin collection ever friday, just different types of bin.

Bin fees are made up of a standing fee every year and a pay by the KG on the grey bin. brown and green are free.

Works perfectly and seems to assist the environment somewhat.

It's usually just a matter of adjusting to be honest, all the better that less goes into the landfill.

ShooterSF

amdublin wrote: »

It's not lying around It's in these big solid black wheely bins.

Not if they're full after a week.

kippy wrote: »

Every second week for "general" waste is pretty standard here in Galway anyway (with city bin) and has been since I moved here (5+ years ago)
We have a "green" "brown" and "grey" bin.
Plastics, Paper, Cardboard and tins in the green bin.
Food and plant matter only in the brown bin.
Glass, clothes, electronics, batteries and most other bigger objects to the numerous recycling facilities around town.
Everything else (which doesnt tend to be that much at all to be honest) into the more than adequately sized grey bin.
Grey bin collected every 2nd week, brown and green, every second week.
There is a bin collection ever friday, just different types of bin.

Bin fees are made up of a standing fee every year and a pay by the KG on the grey bin. brown and green are free.

Works perfectly and seems to assist the environment somewhat.

It's usually just a matter of adjusting to be honest, all the better that less goes into the landfill.

Thankfully here in Navan things are much simpler. Blue recycle bin every 2 weeks. Black general waste weekly. Only one recycle centre and it charges in so is a no go for me.

I don't see the big issue with landfills etc. anywho. I never really got this whole recycling thing as for example it takes more energy to recycle a newspaper than to make one from fresh. That's why companies don't pay you for your old paper. (penn and teller did a nice piece on recycling before)

Anywho the OP still should have a choice if the company are changing their plans. There are other bin companies and maybe in his area one's like my own operate.

allthedoyles

Dave ,
Your post is not very clear , but first of all , you must excuse them from the non-collection of bins during the snow .
This period was a nightmare for everyone associated with logistics.
It cannot be justified to apportion blame for an ' act of God '

From reading your post , I understand that your waste bin is been collected every 2nd week , and your re-cycling bin is then collected every other week .

If this is correct , then am I right to assume that your bins ( both waste and re-cycling ) were been collected weekly ? ( as you say that your collection has been reduced by 50 % )

Finally for a company like AES to seek full payment yearly in advance is crazy and totally unacceptable , as you are entitled to leave them and move to a different service provider at any time .

Therefore , don't accept this and ask them to set up monthly / weekly payment with a payment option to suit you .

kippy

ShooterSF wrote: »

Not if they're full after a week.



Thankfully here in Navan things are much simpler. Blue recycle bin every 2 weeks. Black general waste weekly. Only one recycle centre and it charges in so is a no go for me.

I don't see the big issue with landfills etc. anywho. I never really got this whole recycling thing as for example it takes more energy to recycle a newspaper than to make one from fresh. That's why companies don't pay you for your old paper. (penn and teller did a nice piece on recycling before)

Anywho the OP still should have a choice if the company are changing their plans. There are other bin companies and maybe in his area one's like my own operate.

It's fairly simple here as well, but perhaps I haven't explained it that well.
If you want to believe there are no issues with landfills, in a country such as Ireland (any country for that matter), then I'll leave you be in the bubble in which you live.

There are numerous bottle/clothes/can banks in the Navan area (http://www.meath.ie/LocalAuthorities/Environment/Recycling/BringBanksinCountyMeath/) and I while the "bigger" centre isn't free (€3 entry I believe) its a relatively small price to pay every few months for the bigger items.
That being said, its all dependent on the incentive. The more waste we put in the grey bin, the more we pay, so we try to recycle as much as possible and seperate out the food waste (which usually weighs the most)

ShooterSF

Probably not the place for it. I do use the free bins btw. Well not the clothes one as people now pay here per bag of clothes. That's what happens when recyclables are actually a better idea than new products, people buy the recyclable as they make a profit from using it.

I'm actually amazed aluminium cans can't be sold too as they would seem to be a good recyclable. If recycling really saves energy (and therefore costs to business) then surely the businesses are mad to buy from the recycling centre so why should I have to pay them to take my stuff?
Doesn't make much economical sense. Either the recycling centre is being greedy or the idea that recycling saves is exaggerated.

Anywho we're kinda derailing the OPs question.

kippy

ShooterSF wrote: »

Probably not the place for it. I do use the free bins btw. Well not the clothes one as people now pay here per bag of clothes. That's what happens when recyclables are actually a better idea than new products, people buy the recyclable as they make a profit from using it.

I'm actually amazed aluminium cans can't be sold too as they would seem to be a good recyclable. If recycling really saves energy (and therefore costs to business) then surely the businesses are mad to buy from the recycling centre so why should I have to pay them to take my stuff?
Doesn't make much economical sense. Either the recycling centre is being greedy or the idea that recycling saves is exaggerated.

Anywho we're kinda derailing the OPs question.

Yep, derailing it alright. Last point.
It's not all about money however we all need a financial incentive I suppose. Ours is we pay more per KG sent to landfill.

dudara

OP - did AES send you any notification of the change in services?

Bens

Is the issue here that they are still charging the same price for half the bin collections?
If so dump them.

darish

op we had the same problem with Ray Whelan...we paid in full at the renewal time for a weekly bin collection and fortnightly recycling bin collection...couple of weeks later they wrote to say that the rubbish bin and recycling bin would now only be collected on alternate weeks....nothing we could do about it but we were and still are very annoyed about it and feel a bit ripped off...but as one of the previous posters indicated, all the bin crowds seem to be cutting the services for weekly rubbish collectors...:rolleyes:

Kashkai

Sorry guys, the issue was clear in my head but I'll explain it in better detail now:

Up to a week ago, we had a weekly collection for general waste with a twice monthly collection for recyclables, so you could say there were 6 collections a month. Now, general waste is twice a month with recyclables also twice a month. In effect, they alternate each week, i.e. general waste, reclyclable, general waste etc etc.

We got a leaflet stuck under the bin lid that said "cardboard, glass" etc would be collected one week with "green waste" collected the next. It said nothing about general waste such as plastics, nappies (of which we have two kids in btw) etc. It only came to my attention (and all of my neighbours) that our general waste wouldn't be collected when the bin lorrymen arrived last Friday, opened the general waste bins, looked in, and closed them again and left them unemptied as this was the "recylable" collection. As our bin is now overflowing (I have 5 kids in addition to a wife) as it hasn't been emptied now for almost two weeks, I'm wondering if they'll empty it next Wednesday when they see that it contains not only "green waste" but nappies, plastics etc etc.

To be honest, I have never bought into the whole recycling mindset. It is a load of codology as practically all this material is collected and shipped abroad in big dirty diesel engined lorries and ships to be recylced. Not to mention the costs involved in the actual recycling of the material into something useable. Its just a way for people to think they are doing their bit for the environment.

Finally, like I said in my original post, my wife is big into recycling and all the glassware goes to bottle banks, old clothes to clothes banks, old batteries to the local school collection point etc etc. We tried the recyling "brown bin" but it was attracting rats (we live beside a farm in the countryside), flies, wasps (who built a bloody nest in the eaves over this bin) and of course it was crawling with maggots. So that bin had to go.

So back to my original point, our weekly general waste collection has been reduced by 50% with the "recycling" collection taking place alternate weeks. As I've paid in full for a weekly bin collection, I feel they've breached the contract but I can't see how I can get this company to refund me for a reduced service.

dudara

In effect, they notified you of the vchange in service when they left the leaflets in the bins. That would have been the time to complain about the change, or refuse to accept it. By not registering a complaint at the time, you have "de facto" accepted the new terms of the service.

First thing I'd do is start separating out the plastics. They can be recycled. A trip once a month to the local recycling centre would sort that. We're just two people (compared to your 6) but we put out one small bin liner of rubbish a week (mainly organic), if even that, everything else gets recycled. It does mean trips to the recycling centre but I see that as a small price to pay.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Now I'm totally confused. Since when is Green Waste different from cardboard and glass? Cardboard and glass go in one bin? - no recycling bin takes glass but all take cardboard. You include plastics under general waste!

P. Breathnach

Prosperous Dave wrote: »

... To be honest, I have never bought into the whole recycling mindset....

This is coming over more like an anti-recycling position than a real practical problem.

[BTW: Most plastics can be recycled.]

slimjimmc

Prosperous Dave wrote: »

Sorry guys, the issue was clear in my head but I'll explain it in better detail now:

Up to a week ago, we had a weekly collection for general waste with a twice monthly collection for recyclables, so you could say there were 6 collections a month. Now, general waste is twice a month with recyclables also twice a month. In effect, they alternate each week, i.e. general waste, reclyclable, general waste etc etc.

We got a leaflet stuck under the bin lid that said "cardboard, glass" etc would be collected one week with "green waste" collected the next. It said nothing about general waste such as plastics, nappies (of which we have two kids in btw) etc. It only came to my attention (and all of my neighbours) that our general waste wouldn't be collected when the bin lorrymen arrived last Friday, opened the general waste bins, looked in, and closed them again and left them unemptied as this was the "recylable" collection. As our bin is now overflowing (I have 5 kids in addition to a wife) as it hasn't been emptied now for almost two weeks, I'm wondering if they'll empty it next Wednesday when they see that it contains not only "green waste" but nappies, plastics etc etc.

To be honest, I have never bought into the whole recycling mindset. It is a load of codology as practically all this material is collected and shipped abroad in big dirty diesel engined lorries and ships to be recylced. Not to mention the costs involved in the actual recycling of the material into something useable. Its just a way for people to think they are doing their bit for the environment.

Finally, like I said in my original post, my wife is big into recycling and all the glassware goes to bottle banks, old clothes to clothes banks, old batteries to the local school collection point etc etc. We tried the recyling "brown bin" but it was attracting rats (we live beside a farm in the countryside), flies, wasps (who built a bloody nest in the eaves over this bin) and of course it was crawling with maggots. So that bin had to go.

So back to my original point, our weekly general waste collection has been reduced by 50% with the "recycling" collection taking place alternate weeks. As I've paid in full for a weekly bin collection, I feel they've breached the contract but I can't see how I can get this company to refund me for a reduced service.

I think this bit reiterates my earlier point about people not realising what's recyclable or not. Why are you dumping plastic? Every bit of plastic wrapping, cling film, foam, bubble wrap, food trays, bottles, et c. I have goes to the recycling centre. The only plastic not accepted are hard plastics such as plastic chairs or toys. I'm not a criticising, it's just a suggestion that might help you reclaim wasted space in your landfill bin.

There may be some clause in your service contract that permits AES to make changes once they've notified you, which the leaflet seems to have done.

maxer68

Aes will also give you second recycling bin if you request it. And as other have said the anointed of items that can be recycled these days is huge.

Also, try breaking down the rubbish - there's a lot of empty air in most bins

phil1nj

darish wrote: »

op we had the same problem with Ray Whelan...we paid in full at the renewal time for a weekly bin collection and fortnightly recycling bin collection...couple of weeks later they wrote to say that the rubbish bin and recycling bin would now only be collected on alternate weeks....nothing we could do about it but we were and still are very annoyed about it and feel a bit ripped off...but as one of the previous posters indicated, all the bin crowds seem to be cutting the services for weekly rubbish collectors...:rolleyes:

In Ray Whelan's defence (I'm also a customer of this company) even though the general refuse collection was cut from 52 collections to 26, the yearly cost was cut by a third (this was reflected in a drop in the monthly direct debit). We still get 26 general collections and 26 green bin collections on alternate weeks (as opposed to the 72 collections previously) but at a reduced rate which I though was fair. I would chase up getting a partial refund for the difference or some sort of credit from them based on this.

I left a previous refuse company several years ago when they pulled the same stunt as there was no corresponding drop in the cost they were charging for a reduced service.

ShooterSF

Amelia Bewildered Topic wrote: »

no recycling bin takes glass but all take cardboard.

Different companies. We have a quarterly glass only bin btw.

P. Breathnach wrote: »

This is coming over more like an anti-recycling position than a real practical problem.

For someone not pushed about recycling the OP's service is practically been cut in half. If the leaflet was confusing the OP should be able to cancel the service and recoup the money they overpaid for the year.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

ShooterSF wrote: »

Different companies. We have a quarterly glass only bin btw..

I am aware of such arrangements but in this context we were talking about weekly/fortnightly wheelie bin collection of General Waste and Recycle Bins. They do not take Glass with cardboard as the OP suggested they do.