Waste firm offers to collect rubbish bags for a charge
A PRIVATE company is offering its own bin bag collection service as Bridgend council prepares to impose its controversial two-bag limit.
And disillusioned householders seem to be seriously considering paying extra for the service, which could allow them to put out up to 10 bags a month instead of four.
A social media post about the service on the Davies Waste Facebook page was viewed by 15,000 people in just 48 hours.
“It’s fallen into our favour that the council are cutting the collections,” said owner Owen Davies, 33.
The business, based on the Village Farm Industrial Estate in Pyle, was set up a year ago by Owen after he left his sub-contractor role at Tata Steel in Port Talbot.
He already picks up rubbish from 40 households across Bridgend county and believes that number will rise.
As the council will only be picking up two specially-branded waste bags every fortnight from June – whereas households can currently leave an unlimited number on the kerbside – Davies Waste is offering to pick up three bags from households on the other two weeks of the month for a charge of £10.
So residents could have six extra bags picked up privately, taking the total collected up from four to 10.
“A lot of people are saying if they have families of four or more it’s impossible to keep it down to two bags even if they are recycling,” said Owen, whose company is licensed to carry waste.
Only larger households or those where ash-producing coal fires are the only source of heat will be able to apply for an extra bag or bags and they’ll have to show they are recycling as much as possible.
And, unlike the presorting regime from the council, which means householders will have to separate waste into five different containers, Owen said the company will separate the recycling at their unit. The only thing they cannot recycle at present is plastic and food from homes although they do take food waste from commercial premises.
Once the company has taken what they can recycle out of the bags the residual waste goes to Nolan Recycling on Stormy Down, where it is sorted again and further recyclable items are taken out if they have been missed.
Owen said: “We have been doing garage and garden clearances but it will probably be just purely the black bags due to the way people are responding and asking to sign up.”