Quotes for waste management and recycling

What to put in your request

A supplier can only price what they can see. Answer these and the quotes come back for the same job, which is the only way they can be compared.

1. 1The kinds of waste: general, recyclables (paper, cardboard, plastic, glass, metal), food or organic waste, rubble, garden waste, and anything hazardous, such as oils, chemicals, fluorescent tubes or batteries.
2. 2How much: bags, bins or cubic metres a week, or tonnes if you know. A month of your current collection slips helps.
3. 3The service: scheduled collection and how often, skips or bins on hire and their size, or a once-off clear-out.
4. 4Containers: who supplies them, how many, and where they stand. Say whether a truck can reach them, and how much height and turning room there is.
5. 5Which streams you want kept separate, and any recycling target or reporting you need for your own records.
6. 6For hazardous waste: what it is, roughly how much, how it is stored now, and its safety data sheet if you have one.
7. 7Collection times and access: gate hours, security sign-in, and times when trucks may not come.
8. 8The start date and the length of the contract.

What to compare when the quotes come back

The lowest total is where comparing starts, not where it ends.

• How the price is built: per collection, per container on hire, per tonne or per trip, and whether the landfill or facility charges are included or passed on.
• Where each kind of waste goes: the named landfill, recycler or treatment facility.
• What happens to the value of recyclables: shared with you, credited against the bill, or kept by the collector.
• Container hire, cleaning and damage terms, and what happens when a collection is missed.
• The reporting included: weighbridge slips, monthly tonnages by type, and the disposal paperwork.
• The notice period, and any minimum term on containers.

On SupScope every quote arrives with the same three figures: the total, the lead time and the deposit. The first comparison is done before you open anything. The rest of this list is what to read in each supplier's notes and documents.

Paperwork worth asking for

Proof that the collector may collect in your municipality

Municipalities set their own rules for who may collect business waste, and the Waste Act lets a municipality or province require waste transporters to register. Cape Town's by-law, for example, lets a business use the City or a City-accredited service provider, and requires industrial and hazardous waste to go through an accredited provider. Check your municipality's rules, and ask for the proof.

The name and licence of the facility your waste goes to

A waste facility needs a waste management licence, or must meet the national norms and standards for what it does, and a transporter must make sure a facility is authorised to accept the waste before offloading it. The Waste Act also makes it an offence to knowingly or negligently cause or permit waste to be disposed of where that is not authorised, so know where yours goes.

A waste manifest for every load of hazardous waste

Under the Waste Classification and Management Regulations, hazardous waste travels with a manifest: you, the transporter and the receiving facility each complete a part, and the facility confirms that it accepted and managed the waste. Keep your copies for at least five years. The trade often calls the facility's confirmation a safe disposal certificate.

And from any supplier

A SARS Tax Compliance Status PIN

It replaced the old tax clearance certificate. Checking it on eFiling shows the supplier's status on the day you check, not the day it was issued.

A B-BBEE certificate or sworn affidavit

Only if your own scorecard counts it. Small suppliers (turnover up to R10 million) may use an affidavit instead of a verified certificate.

Company registration and a bank confirmation letter

Worth having before the first payment, so the account you pay is the company you chose.

General guidance, not legal advice. Regulations change, and some depend on your municipality or the job, so confirm anything you rely on with the authority concerned.

How this works on SupScope

1. Step 1

   Post it once

   Describe the job and choose Waste Management & Recycling and your province.

2. Step 2

   It reaches the right suppliers

   Only suppliers who work in this trade and cover your province see it.

3. Step 3

   Compare and award

   Quotes arrive side by side. Accept one and the others are told.