Cheap rubbish removal, a simple concept that takes a nasty turn when the final invoice comes through with all sorts of extra charges you didn’t bargain for, or when you get a visit from the council because some of your waste ended up in the wrong place. In the end, the really affordable option in Melbourne isn’t about getting the cheapest headline price but rather a service that comes clean with its prices, does the right thing with your waste and doesn’t sneak costs onto you after the truck has gone.
The Real Price of Skip Bins vs Rubbish Removal
Skip bin hire is the default route that a lot of Melbourne residents go for; the delivery and collection fee looks alright at first, but the final price is entirely up to the weight of the load when it’s all dumped at the tip. The problem is, that can be bloody hard to predict when you’re just doing a tidy up of a household.
Heavy stuff like concrete garden edging, tiles, bricks and soil end up costing a lot more to get rid of than just general household waste. You can end up being stuffed with a skip bin that was supposed to be three-quarters full of old furniture and cardboard but has a load of concrete in it instead; it will cost heaps more than you were expecting to pay.
On the flip side, trying to guess the volume of a load is never going to end well. Either you’ll end up with a bin that sits on your driveway for the whole hire period when you could’ve got a better deal elsewhere, or you’ll end up overpaying for a bin that only gets half full.
An affordable rubbish removal Melbourne service, on the other hand, just deals with it all like normal. If you’ve got a load that will fill a certain portion of a truck, that is what you’ll pay for. At least that way you know exactly what you will be paying. For most people, it works out to be a lot cheaper than hiring a skip bin once you factor in all the other costs.
Timing Your Removal to Save Some Cash
You’d think getting rid of rubbish would be a pretty steady business in Melbourne all the time, but not so much. In the middle of the renovation season (October to March) and around the time of the year when leases end or start, you’ll find that everyone and their dog is trying to get rid of old rubbish. Booking in outside of those times, especially a mid-week pickup rather than a weekend, tends to mean you get a better price because the operators don’t have to juggle as many schedules.
And don’t be afraid to give operators 24 to 48 hours’ notice of when you need a pickup. It gives them enough time to sort out their routes and get things organised. They can then give you a better price because they don’t have to charge you extra for the rush job.
Also, try combining multiple clearout jobs into one booking rather than trying to book each one individually; it can end up being heaps cheaper that way.
Items to be Sorted Before Collection to Reduce Your Cost
Sorting items before the arrival of the truck is the easiest way to reduce the cost of professional rubbish removal. Separated metal, in particular, will access cheaper disposal services than mixed loads; some operators charge less explicitly, while others incorporate the savings in the total cost of disposal, as it reduces the time taken in the process.
The items that should not be collected with the household general waste under Victorian EPA regulations include asbestos, clinical waste, paint and chemical containers, gas bottles and tyres. Each has its own separate disposal process under regulation. Including any of them in a load that is not known to the operator as part of a general collection results in compliance issues and possibly legal action against the property owner. The right way is to know which of these items you have and then discuss it directly with the rubbish removal operator.
Four Questions that Reveal a Quote is Really Cheap
There are four simple questions that will distinguish a really affordable operator from an apparently cheap one:
- Is the quoted cost inclusive of labour costs in addition to the cost of the first person on the crew?
- Does the disposal cost apply only to the quoted amount, or does it vary depending on the weight of the load at the processing facility?
- Is the operator licensed to collect and transport waste in Victoria according to the Victorian EPA?
- What are the recycling or waste diversion practices followed by the operator, and where do the separated material streams go?
The one that is hesitant or avoids answering any of these questions will actually give you information through that. The most affordable rubbish removal in Melbourne is not necessarily the cheapest quote. It is the quote that remains the same throughout the process, from phone to the final bill.
