Now families pay private bin men
Business is booming for firms charging as much as £30 per uplift
RECORD numbers of Scottish householders are hiring private companies to take away their rubbish in the midst of bin strike chaos.
With dustbins overflowing and black bags piling up, specialist waste removal firms have seen business soar as despairing Scots explore new ways to keep their homes free of trash.
Even though families are already paying higher-than-ever levels of council tax, many have taken the drastic decision to fork out further to have their bins emptied.
It costs around £30 per wheelie bin and waste removal firms say they have seen orders rise between 40 and 100 per cent.
Householders’ frustration is mounting as the pay row behind the current wave of bin strikes shows no sign of being settled. Late last night, talks between local government officials and union bosses from GMB, Unison and Unite were in deadlock.
Strikes are set to continue into this week and further industrial action is due to take place from September 6 until September 10.
The streets of Glasgow, Dundee and Aberdeen – which have been hit by industrial action two weeks after Edinburgh – are already littered with bags of waste and rubbish spilling out of over-full bins.
Hundreds of images of the capital’s filthy streets have been seen on major TV news networks around the world while frustrated residents and shocked tourists have lashed out on social media.
Mountains of plastic bags – many of them burst open by rats and seagulls – and fast food cartons have been piling up around alreadyfull public bins close to some of Edinburgh’s most iconic sites.
Dirty nappies and bags containing animal waste have also been dumped, prompting Public Health Scotland to issue a warning of ‘risk to human health’.
According to the largest private waste removal company in the UK, demand for its services has gone up by 40 per cent in Scotland.
Rob Linton, operations director of Clearabee, is redirecting his lorries from Newcastle and Carlisle to the south of Scotland to support trucks already stationed north of the Border. Mr Linton warned that homes and business are beginning to feel the pressure of the strike action which is taking place in 20 of Scotland’s 32 local councils.
Mr Linton, who is based in Birmingham, said: ‘We have seen an uptick of around 40 per cent in domestic bin clearances, mainly from customers who can’t store their waste, or don’t want to risk a build-up of noxious waste on their property. We have also heard from vulnerable customers who may not be able to deal with a build-up of waste for various reasons.’
However, Mr Linton predicted problems for nightclubs, bars and restaurants which have legal requirements to keep their premises hygienic as they serve food and drink. He added: ‘We have seen a large spike in bin collections for companies who may need waste cleared in order to stay open on public health grounds, for example in the case of restaurants, hotels and bars.
‘Any business serving food or drink normally has a hard limit as to how much waste they can fit in their bin store. Once breached they risk being shut down.’
Last week Public Health Scotland issued a hygiene warning, saying there is a risk to human health from rotting food left in the streets.
The agency warned that ‘decontamination of public areas’ could now be needed to tackle the crisis.
Mr Linton’s company has 165 trucks across the UK and usually makes 1,000 clearances every day.
He said: ‘Our Scottish trucks are run off their feet. We are sending trucks from around Newcastle and Carlisle to cover southern Scotland. We may have to station some more trucks in Scotland temporarily to meet the demand.’
Prices at Mr Linton’s company
start at £29.99 for a standard wheelie bin in urban areas but for larger amounts the starting point is a £59.99 call-out fee and then £30 per square yard.
Another leading waste management firm has also seen a surge in business.
Frasers Waste Management, based in Motherwell, has been operating for 15 years and boss John Fraser said the strike had doubled demand. He said: ‘The phone has been a lot busier and we have been into different areas taking out the bins.’
Mr Fraser removes general waste and charges £10 for a one-off removal, which can drop to £8.50 for regular customers.
So far none of the councils affected by the strikes has approached private bin companies for assistance.
Last month, the UK Government repealed Regulation 7 of the Employment Businesses Regulations 2003 law, which prevented employers using agency workers while staff are striking.
Now employers across Scotland, England and Wales can allocate work to outside companies while staff are striking, including vital services such as waste collection.