Our Customer Charter

CUSTOMER CHARTER FOR HOUSEHOLD AND COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS’ WASTE COLLECTION

 

Updated August 2023

 

1.  INTRODUCTION

Barna Recycling is committed to providing the highest standards in the provision of waste management services to their customers. We have a commitment to providing a service that seeks to incentivise waste prevention and to encourage the segregation of waste so that it can be managed in accordance with the waste hierarchy, whereby waste prevention, preparing for reuse, recycling, and other recovery are preferred over the disposal of waste. This approach is in line with current national waste policy in the area – A Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy. This document is designed to communicate how we intend to provide household and commercial waste collection services in accordance with these principles to the public in a clear and concise fashion.

 

2.  CUSTOMER SERVICE STANDARDS

a) We will provide a regular and reliable collection service and process your waste in a professional and environmentally sound manner.

b) All service provision will be carried out in line with current local and national legislation and in line with sustainable waste management practices. Our National Waste Collection Permit Office (NWCPO) waste collection permit number is NWCPO08-03604 and the details of the permit can be viewed at www.nwcpo.ie.

c) We will provide you with timely, relevant, and clear information regarding your collections, including temporary changes resulting from public holidays or adverse weather conditions.

d) We will consider any reasonable special requests that customers may have.

e) We will explain clearly what your service rules are and the reasons for them.

f) We will respond to formal complaints we receive about our services in a timely and professional manner.

g) We will ensure that there are no direct impediments to you switching your service provider should you wish to do so.

h) We will design our service and carry out collections in a way that minimises litter and odour nuisance.

i) We will offer a segregated waste collecƟon service to facilitate the segregation of residual waste, recyclables and where appropriate, food/bio waste. The frequency of collection will be as follows:

  • Residual Waste Bin— as frequently as may be determined by the relevant local authority according to the necessity of collecƟon of such residual waste but at a minimum at least every fortnight;
  • Recyclable Waste Bin — as frequently as may be determined by the relevant local authority according to the necessity of collecƟon of such recyclable waste but at a minimum at least every fortnight;
  • Food & Bio Waste Bin — as frequently as may be determined by the relevant local authority according to the necessity of collecƟon of such food/bio waste but at a minimum at least every fortnight.

 

3      COMMUNICATION WITH CUSTOMERS

a) We will explain clearly what services you can expect to receive and will provide details of the collection services we offer on a county/city basis to the National Waste Collection Permit Office for publishing on their website.

b) We will provide you with clear and concise billing, which will allow you to understand all elements of the costs involved in providing your waste services.

c) We will inform all customers availing of a domestic waste collection service at least 10 days in advance of any predictable alternative arrangements made for collection in relation to public holidays etc., or any proposal to vary the level of collection.

d) We will keep you informed of changes in our service that are designed to improve our service offering.

e) At the time of initial service provision, each customer will be provided with details of their service providers; full name and address, contact details (website where available, phone number, email, postal address), a clear breakdown of pricing policy for provision of service, process for accessing account statement and balances, procedure for receipt of payments, process for dispute resolution, procedure for customers who have fallen into arrears with their payments, where applicable, service provision frequency and details and the procedure for cancellation of service provision, including refund of charges where applicable. You will also be provided with details of the period of validity for the offer provided and advised of a cooling off period, should you wish to change your mind (usually any time prior to delivery of bins but at least 7 days from the time of contract signing).

f) In the case of e-commerce contracts with customers, and in line with reducing paper usage, all communication and documents will be available through the customer’s online account unless otherwise requested. In the interests of the environment and reducing costs, we are committed to increasing communication by this method.

g) We will alert you at least 30 days in advance of the expiry of your contract.

h) Reports will be made available to customers on request in relation to waste volumes and charges.

i) We will produce a revision of this Charter, which has been approved by the National Adult Literacy Agency.

 

4. CUSTOMER RESPONSIBILITIES

a) In line with national policy, prevent, reuse and recycle waste as much as possible. Refer to national and regional campaigns that seek to help reduce waste production. Present your waste materials, properly segregated and placed in their respective bins/receptacles. Please refer to http://www.mywaste.ie for advice on how to manage your waste more sustainably and for information on how to properly segregate your waste for collection; please refer to our Waste Segregation and Presentation Guidelines (see section 7 below), which are available on our website or which are available to send to you by post, if requested.

b) Segregate your waste appropriately. Please note the procedure in place should the incorrect waste be placed in a bin (e.g. food waste placed in the recycle bin): The Company will apply an extra charge of €30 per bin, per incident, if a bin designed for recyclable material is contaminated with non-recyclable material e.g. landfill waste.

c) In the event that you have difficulty paying your outstanding bill, please contact us directly as soon as possible as we have a procedure to agree an individual payment plan which deals with how we will manage customers who have difficulty paying their bill. We reserve the right to withdraw service provision either permanently or temporarily due to the non-payment of outstanding bills.

d) Contact us, as your waste management service supplier, if you have any queries on how best to manage any of your waste materials. We have the expertise to provide the appropriate service or advice on how to best resolve the issue.

 

5. PRICING, CHARGING MECHANISM AND ACCESS TO ACCOUNT INFORMATION

a) The range of service and costs for service provision will be clearly communicated to each customer.

b) New Customers will receive information on charging and pricing structures at the time of sign up i.e. whether over the phone, via website sign-up or via completion of hard copy application form.

c) The charges for waste management services will be based on an incentivised charging system to ensure that the fees charged promote the benefits of the collection of source-segregated materials. This charging structure will respect the polluter pays principle.

d) Information, including a copy of the Terms and Conditions of Business, will be provided to Customers as part of new Customer Welcome Packs and will be available on the company’s website and/or www.nwcpo.ie.

e) Any changes to the Terms and Conditions of the business will be communicated to customers in a timely manner. Payment of invoices following such notifications shall be taken as acceptance of the updated Terms.

f) Customers will be entitled to easy access to their account information, including statements/balances.

 

6.  COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE/DISPUTE RESOLUTION

a) You are entitled to a fair and reasonable hearing when you have a genuine complaint
or dispute, and the company commits to resolving your issues as quickly as is reasonably possible. Our contact details for complaints are: Phone: 091 771619 email: info@barnarecycling.com.

b) We will respond to formal complaints that we receive about our services in a timely and professional manner. In the case of written complaints, within 10 working days.

c) Complaints shall be logged on the individual customer account with a tracking facility to ensure the complaint has been resolved and the customer notified of updates, or the course of action taken to resolve the issue.

d) Billing disputes are handled on a case-by-case basis and recorded. We will liaise with you directly to resolve the matter.

e) Dispute resolution including withdrawal of service will be in line with the company policy available on the company website or which is sent out by post on request. This will be a fair and equitable process in line with good consumer policies.

 

7.  EDUCATION AND RAISING AWARENESS

a) We shall implement an education and awareness programme in relation to waste management for customers that we service. This will be available via promotional literature that we provide directly to you and via our website or through the website of the National Waste Collection Permit Office.

b) Information packs shall be available to all customers clearly indicating waste types appropriate to each bin and how to present material for recycling.

c) We shall work with other national bodies in promoting waste prevention, reduction and recycling e.g. EPA / Repak etc.

d) We will provide Waste Segregation and Presentation Guidelines to customers, or at a minimum to the National Waste Collection Permit Office for publishing on their website, which clearly explain which materials are to be placed in which bin and collected at a minimum the recycling materials set out below or on the website located on the internet at http://www.mywaste.ie. We will explain to you what happens to materials collected in the residual, recycling and food waste bins.

Customer-Charter-table-section7

 

8. TERMINATION OF SERVICE / REFUNDS / CHANGING SERVICE PROVIDERS

a) Should you wish to terminate your service provision, please advise us by email or in writing or by phone giving 30 days’ notice. The Company will only accept notification regarding change or cancellation of the Customer contract from the account holder and not from any unauthorised third parties.

b) An account will not be terminated until any monies owed on the account are paid in full. Once cancelation has been approved the Barna Recycling wheelie bins will be removed from the Customer’s premises.

c) Any credit balance on your account (after deduction of any applicable Cancellation Charge) will be refunded to you within 30 days of receipt of termination notice.

d) We will ensure that there are no direct impediments to you switching your service provider, but cancellations will not be accepted from any unauthorised third party.

e) When switching providers, you may be asked to provide proof that all outstanding bills have been paid to the previous provider. If requested, we can provide a receipt and confirmation for your next service provider that your account is paid in full. This will be issued within 7 days of receipt of any final payment made or received.

f) If you cease service provision for any reason, our Refund Policy and service cancellation charges are clearly described in Terms and Conditions of Business available on our web site and which we can dispatch by post if requested. The cancellation charge covers costs of recollection, cleaning and servicing of bins.

 

9. CHANGING EQUIPMENT AND OWNERSHIP OF BINS

a) At time of initial service provision, by agreement, each customer will be supplied with the appropriate bins/receptacles sized service their specific needs. The bins provided for service collection remain the property of the service provider.

b) In the case of changing equipment / ceasing service / changing service provider, we commit to the collection of your old bins by arrangement via our call centre within 30 days of the notification of ceasing of the service. We require that your old bins are left empty and easily accessible for collection.

c) This Charter does not affect your statutory rights in any way and provides a simple interpretation of our commitment to you, our customer, and what we expect in return, to help ensure that you are provided with the best service level possible.