The Cost of Removing Bulky Waste

Every year we have to spend substantial sums of service charge funds removing bulky items from bin stores. This is a frustrating waste of service charge money. It penalises responsible owners, but we don’t have a choice, unless residents take responsibility for their unwanted items.

This waste usually consists of furniture that is abandoned following a resident moving in or out. In one instance we found a whole flat’s worth of furniture left in a bin store but more regularly it is items such as old TVs, bedframes, sofas or white goods.

Council rubbish collectors will not take bulky waste when they collect the usual household rubbish and recycling. We have to arrange and pay for a special collection or even a skip to remove them. We have to be quick to remove them too. Somehow once one item is left it seems to give licence to others who want to get rid of their bulky items the same way and the items increase exponentially.

Getting rid of this waste is not a good use of service charge funds, it creates extra work and inconvenience for residents trying to use the bin stores for their intended purpose.

Where we know who is responsible for leaving bulky items, we will charge them for their removal, but we would much rather residents didn’t leave these items in the first place.

If you have old furniture or appliances to get rid of please be considerate of your neighbours and try one of these methods instead:

If you are having a new appliance such as a fridge or washing machine being delivered you can usually opt for the company delivering to collect and dispose of your old appliance at the same time.
Check your council’s website for details of your local recycling centres and dispose of them there.
Consider donating your unwanted furniture to charity. Charites such as the Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity will collect items you donate.
Advertise your unwanted items on your local freecycling group or community facebook group. Other people will often come and collect if you offer an item ‘free to a good home’.