Bags piled beside the bin
A takeaway on the corner has a 660 litre bin collected twice a week. Every Friday night the bin fills up and the staff put extra bags beside it. On Monday morning the driver takes them, because leaving them would mean a mess, a complaint from the neighbours and a call to your office. The takeaway pays for two lifts of a 660 litre bin and gets rid of considerably more.
Occasionally someone in the office decides to charge for it. The customer asks for proof, the driver cannot remember which week, and the charge is dropped. Other customers, who never put extra bags out, see no difference in their price.
Why extras escape the invoice
Side waste is a judgement made in seconds on the kerb. The driver either takes it or does not, and either way nothing is written down.
- Paper round sheets have no column for extra bags.
- Drivers are reluctant to create conflict with customers they see every week.
- The office has no agreed rule on when to charge, so charging depends on who notices.
- Charges raised without a photo are easy for customers to dispute.
- Repeat offenders are never offered the larger bin or extra lift that would solve it.
What your terms say about side waste is for you and your adviser. The practical gap is that nobody records it at the moment it happens.
What unrecorded side waste costs
Every extra bag collected free is tipping weight you pay for and vehicle capacity used. For a handful of customers that adds up across a year, and it quietly lowers the margin on accounts you think are profitable.
It also creates an unfairness you cannot see. Customers who size their containers properly pay the same rate as those who routinely overfill. And the customer who needs a larger bin never gets offered one, because the data that would show it does not exist.
How we capture and charge side waste
What we build records extras at the kerb, applies your rule, and puts a person between the record and the invoice.
- At each stop the driver can add side waste with a quick count of bags or items and a photo. It takes seconds and does not block the next stop.
- The record is attached to the customer, container and date, with the photo and vehicle position.
- Your charging rule is applied: for example, charge from a set number of bags, or after a first warning. The rule is yours and can differ by contract type.
- Proposed charges go to an approval queue, where the office can see the photo and the customer's history before approving, waiving or converting to a warning.
- Approved charges become invoice lines in your billing system or accounts package, with the photo available if the customer queries it.
- A monthly report lists customers with repeated side waste, so your sales team can offer a larger container or an extra lift.
| Driver records | Rule applied | Office sees |
|---|---|---|
| 2 bags, photo | Under your threshold | Logged, no charge |
| 6 bags, photo | Chargeable under your rule | Proposed charge for approval |
| Bulky item, photo | Separate item rate | Proposed charge for approval |
| Repeated weekly | Pattern flagged | Upsell suggestion for account owner |
How the week goes with the capture in place
On Monday the driver empties the takeaway's bin and taps side waste: seven bags, photo. On Tuesday the office sees it in the approval queue alongside the last month's history, which shows extras every Monday. They approve the charge and the account owner gets a note suggesting an extra Saturday lift.
When the takeaway rings to query the charge, the photo is on screen. The conversation turns into a discussion about a bigger bin, which is what the customer actually needs.
Is side waste costing you quietly?
- Drivers take extra bags because leaving them causes more trouble.
- Side waste charges are raised occasionally and usually dropped.
- You have no photo evidence when a customer disputes an extra.
- Some accounts regularly overfill but have never been offered a bigger container.
- Charging depends on who in the office happens to notice.