Clarity and cleanliness are two words that mean a lot to people and communities. Clarity that when booking a service it is being offered at a sensible, reasonable value. Cleanliness, that the environment we walk and drive in is tidy, with paths, pavements, and green spaces not choked and disfigured by carelessly thrown away food wrapping, bottles, empty vape cases, used nappies, and other eyesores.
Responsible waste disposal – maximising recycling, putting the waste in approved Council-run facilities – can be costly. That by itself puts people off from using responsible waste disposal companies or checking the credentials of those outfits quoting unfeasibly low prices. The result? Vans filled up with rubbish of all kinds from biodegradables to the dangerous and toxic, and taking them to the nearest unobserved lane, green space or cul-de-sac for clearing out and running away. That, in essence, is fly-tipping.
Freddie Jacobs, Founder and Managing Director of Only Pay What It Weighs, deeply dislikes the impact of fly-tipping and the lack of clarity in pricing in the waste disposal industry that lies behind some of it. “That’s why I came up with the idea of Only Pay What It Weighs. People who have rubbish to be cleared will know from the start the likely cost and be absolutely certain that we are going to dispose of their waste in an approved, responsible manner. I am also addressing the issue of fly-tipping in another way. It upsets me every time I drive past another location visually ruined – and with added dangers of fires, pollution, and infestations such as rats – by fly-tippers. That is why my company is going to be part of the solution. We will ask our customers to nominate fly-tipping they have seen, and every hundredth load we take to the tip will be fly-tipped refuse that we will dispose of for free as a gift to the community. A full van’s load, gone, without waiting for the Council to spend its time and resources. They have plenty of other things to do! I can’t wait for the first fly-tipped load after we’ve cleared done 100 full-van jobs for our clients. Better yet, I’m not going to wait. The first van load we clear will be fly-tipped refuse. The difference we will make will start when we do.”
You can follow news, pictures and video about Freddie’s and Only Pay What It Weigh’s anti-fly-tipping mission in this blog and on our social media.