Refuse Removal and Waste Recycling

December 2013

Refuse Removal and Waste Recycling

We at Waste Control (a Division of the SA Metal Group) are responsible for the removal of both wet (kitchen) refuse and dry (recyclable) waste from all residents and the majority of businesses, schools and institutions across the Atlantic Seaboard from Bantry Bay to Hout Bay.

We were awarded the tender as your service provider from the City of Cape Town in January 2012. Our major goals were (and still are) as follows;

1. Ensure that our compactor vehicles for wet waste and recycle vehicles never miss a collection on the day allocated to them
2. To have a permanent supervisor in the area who is able to communicate with residents should they wish
3. To operate the most modern (new) vehicles to ensure minimum environmental noise and oil spills
4. To never work out of the hours of 6am to 4pm (this is a huge challenge over the festive season however due to congested traffic and servicing 30% more residents)
5. To market the concept of separating and packing of recyclables in the free Waste Control plastic bags that we provide to households and institutions etc. At present an average of 78% of residents participates in recycling, the highest in the Western Cape and in fact the country.
6. To constantly upskill our drivers. They have a one week advanced training course on an annual basis. 
7. To ensure that our runners (collectors) are fit, have no criminal records, are dressed smartly and appropriately and utilize the correct legislative protective wear at all times
8. Our staff is obliged to greet and wave at any resident they come across.
9. Our employees are not allowed to accept gifts from anyone.
10. To man our call centre for complaints 24/7 and respond immediately. In nearly two years we have not received more than 30 complaints or queries
11. And lastly and most importantly, to ensure when all your residents return from school lifts, work or other chores, there is no refuse in their streets or outside their homes. It is our mission to give all the residents the opportunity to view their pristine community at all times without any eyesore clouding their vision.(especially if the black wheelie bins have already been taken back into the households)

Whether we have met these objectives only your residents and business people can judge but as a resident of Camps Bay myself, when I see our vehicle collect my waste and recyclables on the minute at 6.30 am every Tuesday, I feel a huge amount of gratitude and pride in our employees and am fairly confident that waste or refuse removal is a problem that no one ever has to deal with in our community whether they be in a leadership role or are just “the man/woman in the street”. That is how it should be in a modern safe suburb.

As an aside we were also contracted to service the Deep South Peninsular for 3 years until we were awarded the Atlantic Seaboard tender. To this day we still receive letters, e mails and phone calls pleading with us to return to be their service contractor. The ratepayers also protested when the tender was awarded to another company but to no avail. The city has a policy of awarding a private waste removal company only one area at a time. I hope this changes in late 2014 when our tender terminates. It really has been a pleasure to work in such a magnificent part of the Cape Peninsular and we would like to continue our relationship with you. (Although the Deep South was also so picturesque) But I digress.

For the festive period please can you advise all your residents, businesses, visitors and institutions; (in fact these are policies we have throughout the year)

1. Not to give any of our staff “Xmas boxes” We provide our staff with bonuses for their commitment and dedication.
2. Explain to all your visitors through your visitors info centres, neighbourhood watches, notice boards etc to participate in our recycling programme
3. To stop bergies and the homeless to scratch in refuse bags. It is the most arduous task for our staff to collect broken bags from say the Clifton steps and bring them up to the road. This is soul destroying work
4. Visitors and residents should be told of their collection days. They should not put out their waste the evening before the collection day. The perfect time is between 6am and 6.30 am on collection days especially in the summer. We cannot afford a fly infestation in our suburb. In this way people do not party too hard as they need to be up early to put out their bins and bags.
5. Residents should wash their black wheelie bins with disinfectant weekly
6. We are not allowed to collect grass, branches, rubble, broken glass, disused furniture and/or garden clippings. Either residents can dispose of these at the City Garden Refuse Camps throughout the City or call 
7. When it is windy secure the bins and bags to ensure that they do not fly all over the streets.
8. We will be collecting refuse and recyclables throughout the festive season including Christmas Day, New Year’s Day and other public holidays.

Lastly it is deeply distressing that you have the website of our opposition who has nothing to do with refuse removal or recycling on the Atlantic Seaboard on the CBRRA website. Please immediately change this. Our websites are www.sametal.co.za and www.wastecontrol.co.za where there is further information simplified for all. Please add it to yours.

We wish you a peaceful, relaxing and non windy festive season..

I have copied in our ward councilor into this e mail as well.

Important contact details

Waste Control Operations;
021 507 8700
Supervisor; Elliot Ndinisa;
071 906 5028
Director; Jonathan Biderman-Pam;
083 653 7126
City of Cape Town;
086 010 3089

Please feel free to contact me if you have any concerns, complaints, questions or maybe even a compliment or two although we are driven to perfection in our commitment to you and don’t expect affirmation for achieving our goals.


Yours faithfully

Waste Control

Jonathan Biderman-Pam
Divisional Director