Most people are aware of the decline in recycling markets and that the price paid for recyclables markets took a historic dive this year. What that means for business and property managers is that waste haulers have become more stringent on what is allowed in their recycling bins. In order to recover the cost of processing the non-recyclables in the recycling bins, haulers have started to impose “Recycling Contamination Fees” for recycling bins that appear to be contaminated.
To be sure, there is a problem sometimes with what goes in the recycling bins. When the markets for recyclables were high, waste haulers allowed more contamination in the bins because the value of the recyclables more than offset the cost of processing non-recyclables. But in today’s market, waste haulers are now charging significant fees for contaminated recycling bins that affect their bottom line.
Although, in some cases, the charges are justified, but we have also found that the waste haulers often make mistakes and overcharge their customers. There are a number of areas where mistakes are made:
- Sometimes the hauler doesn’t provide pictures to prove the contamination.
- The hauler takes pictures of the wrong bins.
- They take multiple pictures of the same bin and the customer is charged twice.
- They do not follow the City guidelines for allowable contamination percentages.
Since most of the waste haulers have cameras on their trucks to take pictures of the contamination, they also take advantage of the opportunity to take photos of bins that are overfilled and charge for those as well. Some haulers have departments of people who monitor the overages and get paid commissions if they can get the customers to increase their service. Waste Control has found mistakes in the overage charges in much the same way we have found erroneous charges and mistakes in the contamination fees.
Waste Control has been successful in negotiating credits for the unwarranted fees for both the contamination and the overage fees. Additionally, we can use our industry experience to help reduce these instances of both types of fees in a cost effective manner. If you are having trouble with these type of additional fees, please check out the rest of our website and reach out if we can be of assistance.
Let us help you reduce these fees and reduce your waste costs in general while relieving your staff of the burden of dealing with these issues. Contact us today for a free evaluation.