Guides · Switching supplier
How to switch commercial waste provider in London
Most businesses stay with a waste collector they have stopped rating, for one reason: they think switching is going to be a mess. It usually isn’t. The part that catches people out isn’t the new supplier, it’s the notice period on the old one. Here is the order to do it in.
Get a switching priceWhere do I find my notice period?
In the agreement you signed, and it is worth digging out before you talk to anyone else.
Commercial waste contracts commonly run twelve months and roll over unless you give notice inside a window before the renewal date. Miss the window and you are usually into another full term. Some run to sixty or ninety days notice, so a contract you meant to leave in March needs the letter written in December.
If you cannot find the agreement, ask your provider for a copy of the terms and the renewal date in writing. They have to be able to tell you. The date is the thing that sets your whole timetable, so get it before you plan anything else.
What does my current provider have to give me when I leave?
Two things you should actually chase:
- Your transfer notesYou are required to hold records of every handover for two years, and that duty is yours, not theirs. If your notes have been living in their portal rather than your drawer, download them before the account closes and you lose the login. This is the single most common thing people forget, and it is the one an audit asks for.
- A final invoice you can checkAsk what the closing charges are before you serve notice, not after. Bin collection or removal, a final lift, any outstanding rental. Whatever it is, you want it in writing while you are still a customer they want to keep.
If you are unclear on the paperwork side generally, that is covered in what a waste transfer note is and who needs one.
What should I ask a new supplier before I sign?
Five questions. They take a supplier under a minute if the answers are good, and a lot longer if they aren’t.
- What is your waste carrier registration number?Then check it yourself on the public register.
- What is included in the price?Fuel, ULEZ, congestion charge, disposal and the transfer note should all be inside the number you are quoted. If they are line items, the price you were told is not the price you will pay.
- What are the weight limits, and what happens if I go over?Every collector has them. The ones worth dealing with will tell you the figure without being pushed.
- How long is the term, and what is the notice period?You are leaving one contract. Read the next one properly.
- What happens when a collection is missed?Not whether it happens. What happens when it does.
How to run the register check on question one is in who can legally transport commercial waste.
How do I swap the bins without a gap in collections?
Sequence it, and do not let the two dates collide.
Agree a start date with the new collector first, then book the old provider’s bin removal for the same week or a couple of days after. The overlap costs you almost nothing and it means you are never sitting with waste and nowhere to put it.
If your bins are supplied by the outgoing provider they will want them back, and they will usually charge if they cannot get to them, so leave them somewhere accessible on the day. If you are on sacks rather than bins there is nothing to swap at all, which is why bag accounts switch fastest.
One practical note for London sites with no storage: check the presentation times on your street before you set the new schedule, because the window you can legally put waste out is not the same everywhere.
What does switching to Capital Recycle look like?
Bags or bins, we can normally start within 24 to 48 hours of agreeing the price, and bags go out from our own stock rather than being ordered in.
Sacks start from £1.50 a bag. Bins are priced per lift from £12, on a fixed monthly Direct Debit rather than a bill that moves around. Standard term is twelve months at a locked rate, and there is a rolling option if you would rather not commit while you are still getting over the last contract.
Your transfer note comes with the collection. You do not have to ask for it and you do not have to log in anywhere to get it.
See pricingWhat usually goes wrong in a switch?
Serving notice too late. The renewal window closes quietly and nobody rings to remind you. Diary it the day you find the date.
Assuming the bins are yours. If the outgoing provider supplied them, they are not, and leaving them locked behind a gate on collection day turns into a charge.
Switching on price alone. A quote that beats your current one by a wide margin is usually missing something that will appear later as a surcharge. Ask question two properly and compare the same thing.
If you want to know what the market actually costs before you talk to anyone, that is set out in what commercial waste collection costs in London.
Thinking about moving?
Send us a photo of what you are putting out and your postcode, and you will get a price back from a real person. We cover London and the WD postcodes. Call 0207 101 4003 or use the contact form.
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