[joe.b]

Hey everyone at the moment i am doing driveways patios etc, and then the other side is mobile valeting but i want to do bin cleaning, really i want to get your ideas on a good leaflet and hows best to get customers really.

thanks

[Majestic]

1 of my customers has hers cleaned every 2 weeks
He charges in advance , if you pay 12 months in advance its £2.25,
6 months its £2.50, 3 months its £2.75 all per bin most houses around here have 3 .

[paul bruce]

You may already know this but for wheelie bin cleaning you need a waste water carriers licence  as you have to dispose of waste water down  designated drains.
Your local council will advise you on this.
I am not involved with bin cleaning but previous posts have mentioned the waste water factor as putting waste water down street drains can result in a hefty fine. ( 30 k )

[mark.laycock1@ntlw]

hi do you need anything for washing patios driveway for the water down the drains.

[Jet Cleanse Ltd]

I currently run a wheelie bin cleaning business and hope that the information is of use

To comply with the legislation governed by your local water authorities and the environment agency you must ensure that you do the following:

1) Dispose of waste water down an approved disposal point as designated by your local water authority - should just be a telephone call and perhaps a meeting.
2) Waste carriers licence obtained from the environment agency for about £136 for three years, this enables you to carry waste on your vehicle.  You need it even if a crisp wrapper was to transfer from the bin into your van.
3) The water you use to wash the bins must be contained on your vehicle, you can not let the water run onto the ground, this is illegal and enforced by the environment agency as you can pollute the ground water system.

I am sure that I have missed a couple of things but i shall post when i think of them.

Arran

[stevegunn]

Different local authorities have different policies check with your local authority first.Up here South shields council not interested,Sunderland council not interested and local water board not interested either. 

[Jet Cleanse Ltd]

sorry Steve I didnt understand what you mean by they dont care - who doesnt care? - the laws are black and white and are published on the environment agencies website.
Local councils are not worried as it is not down to them to police the laws for bin cleaning or waste water.

[stevegunn]

Local wheelie bin cleaners wash bins at the back of their vans on the road we spent a lot of money buying a recycling unit The environment agency followed 5 bin cleaners us included and told the others as long as they did not leave rubbish on the road it was OK us on the other hand got told off because we did not dump waste water at a designated disposal point.We stopped doing them and to this day they still wash them out on the road Here is one of them

http://www.aldersoncleaningservices.com/wheelie-bin-cleaning.php

[Jet Cleanse Ltd]

right I understand your frustration as this happened to me but my local environment agency was in contact with them in a few days and they were gone within a couple of weeks.  It really is a cowboys world and I just can not understand why the rules that are put in place are not upheld, perhaps I was just lucky or should we all save money on equipment and buy a £200 pressure washer and then we could all charge £1.00 a clean and make an absolute fortune.... but in the process contaminate all our drinking water....

[stevegunn]

What gets me more is the fact they actually have pics on their website showing how they clean the bins on the roadside

[drivewasher]

I am sure that in ADDITION TO a waste carriers licence, you WILL need a certificate/permission to discharge waste foul water off the water authority.
For this they will designate a position IE a particular manhole/grid that they know for shure goes into the foul sewer, and you must use this designated position for every discharge

[drivewasher]

hi do you need anything for washing patios driveway for the water down the drains.

Hi,
Good question, I have looked into thisand there are 2 points to consider.
1. When we clean a drive and as I very rarely use chemicals we are not washing foul water as in that would contain anything like the contents in the bottom of a bin. We are only accelerating what the natural rain water does, any polutants like oil etc are very dilute.

2. I always barrier any street grid/gutter with a brush or spade etc to dam any sand and most of the moss/weeds when I clean up at the end I shovel any sand/moss/stones etc up and don't allow it to go in the grids as best I can, probably about 95% gets picked up

Also If you think about it when Mr Smith cleans his shinny new car every sunday, he's washing soap down a surface gulley as it inevitably runs into the street or his own grids, so if they are piped into a surface water system then is he polluting?

[keith b]

Basically Drivewasher is correct!

If you clean patios with high pressure water and no chemicals then your ok in the eyes of the environment agency/council etc, although if you use chemicals that are bio-degradable it maybe worth checking with authorities again, as its a grey area legally!

To clean bins legally, you need a waste disposal license, the vans they use for bin cleaning trap & recycles/filters dirty water, the bins then get sprayed with a pine type fragrent spray, this gets disposed of at a designated waste site or sewer drain!

[Jet Cleanse Ltd]

perhaps we should all blame the environment agency for the state of the environment if they are not prepared to uphold their own rules and regulations which state fines and imprisonment for failure to comply.

Steve i have much sympathy for the situation that you were in, i would have be camped outside their offices with a banner - probably would have been arrested for public disorder!!!!!!

[Stevie G]

after 6 months of emails and phone calls to my local council
this is there reply.


All wheeled bins within the District are owned by District
Council and it is necessary to obtain permission from us before entering into a
cleaning agreement to clean them.  The reason for this relates to the correct
handling of our property and also that it is important the council can vet the
standard of service, to ensure as far as reasonably practicable, our residents
are receiving a high level of service. 

Also, I am sure you will agree, it is important that the council is satisfied
that all applicable environmental legislation (i.e. disposal of leachate) is
adhered to by any company undertaking the cleansing of council property, albeit
that it would be an agreement between the customer and the bin cleansing company
directly. 

regards darren.

[Jet Cleanse Ltd]

I had pretty much the same response from my council and it will definately benefit you to show the council waste officers how it all works as there call centres get asked about bin cleaning several times a day in summer - lots of potential customers.

[help_me_pls]

 

[steve k]

can I ask why you would report them as you appear to have done so...?
Why not have a chat with them and offer them advice.
Their ignorance may be just that...ignorance...but to put a company out of business potentially, by reporting them...it`s either your green conscience...or you just want your competition out of business...either way, it stinks to me.
Do you go round and inform on every car washer you come across over a typical weekend?

[Jet Cleanse Ltd]

Steve,
We already had the chat and they were still doing it and so the next level is letting them find out from the proper authorities, they then had a choice to buy the correct equipment and work on an even basis, they chose not to as they could not survive on the price of £1.25 that they charged per bin with the necessary costs.  it was not my choice to put them out of business they did that themselves.
You were obviously quite happy for the people up your way to ignore your little chat! well I am afraid thats not the way I work, why the hell should I pay for all the insurances and necessary contracts and work legally and then get slagged off by their operators about the charges I make as they are only a pound.

Sorry if this upsets you steve but it was just business.

[Kleen Machine]

There is a site that has information on the equipment needed to comply with local laws. The owner of the business and site is very familiar with any issues and sets up different van packages with hot or cold pressure cleaners, with contaminate containment holding tanks.

www.really-wheelie-clean.co.uk