Any experiences with Panda waste collection?

Hi folks - Any good or bad experiences with Panda waste recycling for domestic waste collection services? Their prices undercut Dun Laoghaire Rathdown by about 25% - it kind-of seems too good to be true.

I'd be interested in any direct experiences of how the service works out for customers?

has anyone fully analysed their prices, i know on their website they claim to undercut by 25% but i have yet to sit down and fuly analyse the like for like costs.

also, their green bins take away plastic bottles which the council green bins dont. however, neither of them take the corrigated cardboard nor glass bottles.

It does seem to me that the prices are genuinely lower than DLRCoCo all round.

In order for a private company (like Panda) to gain a foothold in the market from the current leaders (DLRCC - who most people know [and trust]) they would have to significantly undercut them (or offer additional services the other doesn't) so I wouldn't be too surprised if they were 25% under on like for like service. (Similar to Eircoms prices being controlled by ComReg to allow other telecoms service providers enter the Irish market - ComReg are controlling and regulating that one horribly, but thats a very different matter)

Never heard or come across Panda before so can't assist with providing any info on them.

I have very recently switched to Panda, my experience to date is limited but my neighbours who made the move before christmas are very pleased with the service. Not only are the charges approx 20% less than Dún Laoghaire Rathdown, but the green bin is collected twice a month. I think it is great that there is a bit of competition as the refuse charges imposed by Dún Laoghaire Rathdown are very high.

What about the tax rebate - I looked at their flyer and had a feeling, but wasn't sure, that you wouldn't get the tax rebate that you get with DLRCC.

According to Revenue leaflet on service charges (IT27), it looks like they would qualify for tax relief;

Service Charges which qualify for relief
All service charges paid to:
Local authorities for the provision of domestic water
supply, domestic refuse collection or disposal, or
domestic sewage disposal
Group water schemes for domestic water supply
Independent contractors for domestic refuse collection or
disposal.

Click to expand...

What about pro-rata division of the standing charge ?

Does anyone know what the story is with the actual process for moving over ? I think we will go with Panda, but how is the change notified to DLRCoCo and will we end up paying the standing charge to DLRCoCo and a standing charge to Panda too ?

z

I rang Panda yesterday and they didn't seem to be too au-fait with the process which seemed a bit odd since it looks like the only area they do domestic collections is in Dun Laoghaire. Eventually the person on the phone went off and checked and they reported back that DLR will bill you 22c (pro-rata standing charge) for each day up to your switch over day, and then nothing after that.

z

Would there be any reason why [broken link removed] shows them as a 'sole trader'? Seems a bit strange for an organisation of their size.

I understand that DLRCoCo have comitted to providing a 'brown bin' service for food/garden waste next year. Panda tell me that they are looking into this.

Without wishing to comment in detail on any given waste collector, there are a few key issues you should always check out.

(1) Do they have a collection permit allowing them to collect in your area? Any reputable collector will have this, but the onus is on the householder to ensure that the collector is duly authorised.

(2) You may wish to ascertain precisely what type of recycling and recovery is being carried out - i.e., where do they bring the waste, and where and how is it recycled?

A good environmentally responsible waste collector should have no difficulty in providing such information.

As a more general comment, there have been instances where recyclable materials, because the consist quite largely of paper and card, have been composted after extraction of metals, and used as "daily cover" in landfill. This practice is liable to be scrutinised by relevant regulatory agencies as it may not be fully in line with national policy which is that recycling is a preferred activity over operations which might potentially be described as recovery or disposal activities. It is possible that such a review could in the future have an impact on the operations and pricing profile of some waste management companies.

Fickle said:

the green bin is collected twice a month.

Click to expand...

DLR Co Co now collect the green bin waste twice a month, and you can also put plastic bottles in their green bin now.

The main advantage of staying with DLR Co Co is that the money made goes back into the community. For example, a profit made from waste charges by DLR Co Co may be spent on litter collection, reduce/reuse/recycle awareness, etc. The profit made by Panda goes into private pockets.

Competition is a good thing, but an initial surface saving may not save you money in the long term.

Hi,
I moved to Panda recently. The sales people who called to my door were very helpful at explaining the process of moving from DLRCOCO waste collection to them. I fileld in a form and they contacted DLRCOCO and I got
a final bill in the post from DLRCOCO. Very painless.
Their collection service has been fine.

You need to get a new green bin from them and Oxygen have not yet picked up my old one which is silghtly annoying.

Like huskerdu above we moved to Panda recently, the process was fairly painless and we have had no problems to date with collection apart from the first day, however Panda were very helpful in rectifying that.

Our Oxygen bin is also sitting in the way with no sign of it being collected.

I had actually thought that the Panda service was endorsed by DLRCoCo, not sure where I got that idea from.

J2K

J2K,
Panda showed us a letter from DLRCOCO which states that they agree to facilitate any customer moving to Panda. This may be what you are refering to.