Mum fed up with '˜inadequate bin collections' sets up private pick up business

Rebecca and Jamie Hill who have started up their own rubbish collection service.

Rebecca Hill, 31, from Drylaw, says she reached her wits’ end when she saw a rat behind her bin and decided to take matters into her own hands.

Together with her husband Jamie, 35, the couple launched Bare Bins, a service which provides additional bin pick-ups from homes across Edinburgh and the Lothians. Since since its launch on Friday the business has taken on 12 new households.

Based in West Calder, the new venture offers customers a variety of collection options starting at £14.25 for a single uplift up to £289.17 for a year.

Ms Hill, who has a two-year-old son, said: “My bin was always overflowing with nappies and rubbish and with Jamie working away for a lot of the time couldn’t always make it to the tip.

“I finally reached boiling point when I spotted a rat running out from behind my bin one evening.

“After searching, we found there wasn’t anyone providing a service to households who needed additional bin collections.

“We carried out market research and spoke with lots of households who told us it is impossible to keep their waste within the limit of a small wheelie bin, especially when it is only collected once every two weeks.”

Mr Hill, an HGV driver who has previously driven bin lorries for councils, has now quit his job and together the couple has put everything they have into the news business.

Bare Bins collect household waste, taking it to a recycling centres to be processed and can be booked on a one-off, monthly, six-monthly or yearly basis.

The rubbish is collected on the same day of the week as the council pick-up, so the bin collection day stays the same.

“Residents are paying for their council collection through their council tax. However, they are not receiving the same service they used to,” Ms Hill added. “Collections have gone down, but council tax contributions have not, yet we still have the same amount of waste we always had.

“We appreciate councils are stretched and have reduced budgets, which usually sees impacts on local services.

“That’s why we have spotted this as an opportunity to provide a much-needed service for residents.”

Edinburgh Council had been criticised in the past about the state of its rubbish collecting services.

But after a series of new measures were introduced the number of complaints about waste on the streets fell.

Additional staff were laid on over the summer along with more frequent collections at the busiest locations.

A campaign to make the public more aware of bins and to encourage them to take more responsibility for tackling litter has also been a success.