Householders in five local authority areas in the north-west are being offered collections by a commercial waste manager for a £15 fee.
B&M Waste, based on the Wirral, made its first collection at Bromborough on 14 February after piloting the scheme at the homes of its own staff.
Householders contact the company either online or by phone and say whether the bin they want to empty comprises either recycled material or residual. A representative charges £15 per bin or £25 for two bins, and allocates the house to a round on a day other than its local authority collection day.
Director David Curtis said: “Residents are becoming increasingly frustrated by infrequent bin collections from our councils. We’re always striving to improve our offering and we work hard to listen to our community.
“B&M Waste Services At Home was a no-brainer. We’re excited to deliver this new service and hope to expand it in the future.”
Marketing manager Jayne Kennedy told MRW it had expected initial demand to be for one-off collections, but the business model allowed longer contracts such as six months.
Despite some expectation that the scheme would appeal to more affluent homes, Kennedy said early indications were of a wider mix of customers. She said it was too soon to say if calls were mainly for residual or dry recyclables.
She added that the service suited a number of circumstances such as two- or three-weeky residual regimes, missed collections or bins unexpectedly full after parties or other domestic events. In some cases, the householder would be unable to reach the local household waste recycing centre.
B&M has no local authority contracts. Collections were being taken to the company’s MRF on the Wirral which processes business waste.
In March 2017, East Anglia-based Mick George extended its commercial operations to add residential properties to its distribution routes.