A very small proportion of companies are ‘bribing’ council waste operatives to treat their commercial waste as household waste, a new survey has found.

According to a survey of 4,500 UK-based businesses, just over one per cent of respondents admitted to disposing of their commercial waste through ‘illicit means’ in a bid to save money.

Commercial waste company BusinessWaste.co.uk carried out the anonymous survey and found around 50 companies (1.1 per cent) were avoiding paying for commercial waste disposal by bribing council waste operatives to treat the rubbish as household waste (the disposal of which is paid for through the council) instead.

However, a spokesperson for the company said it is “certain” the practice is “far more widespread than [the] survey suggests”.

Bribing practices

Companies who admitted to shirking from the cost of commercial waste disposal said they “took commercial waste home and put it in [their] domestic bins”, “paid [the] bin man a tenner [£10] to remove loads of bulky waste”, or would “bump into” bin men down the pub, where “a round of drinks [worked] wonders”.

The survey also found that all those who admitted to underhand practices knew they were breaking the law. Reasons for circumventing the law included: “couldn't afford to pay”, objections to paying, and a belief that as they already pay Council Tax, they shouldn’t have to pay for separate waste services.

Local authorities need to ‘root out’ those responsible

Indeed, the survey heard from one UK-based commercial waste management company that the illegal practice is widespread, and called on local authorities to take steps to ‘crack down on waste crime’.

Speaking of the findings, BusinessWaste.co.uk spokesman Mark Hall said: “In tough financial times, some business owners are cutting corners on their budgets and if they find an illicit way to have commercial or bulky waste taken away for next to nothing, they'll certainly take advantage of it.

“We were told several times in confidence that the price of a pint handed over at the business’s back door is enough for a council operative to turn a blind eye. They all had their reasons for doing so, but it all boiled down to money.

“Essentially, there are significant numbers who were prepared to act illegally, and local authorities need to root out both the companies who refuse to pay, and the refuse operators lining their own pockets.”

The company also found that householders were prone to offering bin operators a bribe to remove certain waste items that attract a charge payable to the council, such as bulky waste.

“Everybody’s after something for nothing from their local bin men”, said Hall, adding: “Local councils need to stop this now.”

The survey did find, however, that the vast majority of businesses and councils operate within the law.

When being asked why they did not resort to illegal means to get rid of their waste, businesses said they:

• Were ‘scared of being caught and fined’ (60 per cent);
• Had already budgeted for waste management (15 per cent);
• Had negotiated a good deal for waste management (13 per cent); or
• Were ‘committed to legal recycling’ (six per cent).

Read more about BusinessWaste.co.uk