A comparison of Junk Run versus Flexibins or Flexibags
Here at Junk Run we get lots of calls each week from people who have bought a Flexibin or Flexi bag option from one of the big hardware stores and then found that their full bag will not be collected. Junk Run is not affiliated with Flexibin but we are often called in to remove Flexibins when the Flexibin Company are unable to pick them up for the reasons discussed below. We thought we would work through the differences between Flexibins as an option versus booking a Junk Run pick up and why we get called in so often to assist.
Let’s start with the costs in the Auckland area:
Flexibin Auckland costs (Bag price + Flexibin pickup cost)
3m³ Flexibin: purchase price of $54.90 + a $149.00 collection fee = $203.90 total.
*additional charges apply if you are out of the Flexibin pick up zone or if the contents is over the allowed weight.
Junk Run costs
For residential, construction and commercial waste 3m³ = $285 (plus GST). This includes all the labour to load, sort and separate.
Although this is more expensive than a Flexibin, read on below to learn about the ease of use and environmental advantages of using the hands on separating service of Junk Run.
These prices were up to date as of 17th May 2021. You can check Flexi Bin pick up pricing by going to this page and then enter your address on the Flexibin booking page .
Do you know your weight?
Flexibins won’t be collected if you have over filled them. They cannot be loaded with anything sticking out of the top (unlike the image above). They have weight limits of 200kg per cubic metre which can be hard for you to predict. If your bag is overweight extra fees apply or it will be left behind. There is no weight limit for a Junk Run pick up unless you have a pile of concrete aggregate or heavy tiles in which case some extra charges will apply. We are often called in to take away an overfilled Flexibin/bag that has been left behind. There is no refund offered for your prepaid Flexibin collection fee either if you are overweight or overfull and the bag is left behind.
Heavy lifting
Booking Junk Run means the actual physical effort of moving the junk from wherever it is (in your house, under your house, in your garden, the garage or on the deck) is done for you. The Junk Runners will do the lifting and carrying and will expertly load it on to the trucks so that there is no wasted space to maximise the amount you can fit into your pick-up. You will have to do your own lifting and carrying and load the Flexibin/bag yourself which is not always a suitable option for everyone and creates and health and safety hazard.
What you cannot put in a Flexibin
Flexibins will not be collected if they contain batteries, tyres or fluorescent tubes. Junk Run charges a small extra cost for tyres and fluoro tubes, but we will take them and they will go to be recycled. Both Flexibins and Junk Run will not take hazardous items such as asbestos, petrol, gas bottles, paints, chemicals or food waste. Remember, your Flexibin prepaid pick up fee will not be refunded if the bag cannot be removed due to any of these items being present. If Junk Run turns up and you have any of these things, we will still complete our job, but will leave these things behind.
How wide is your drive?
A Flexibin/bag has to be left in a specific place in order to be collected. They stipulate that the bin/bag must not be left on the roadside or on your council berm, as this is illegal (like the one pictured above). Be prepared with your tape measure as the bag must be left inside your property boundary, but no further than FOUR metres from the kerbside. They can be collected from the property, but only if your driveway access is at least 4.5 metres wide with a height clearance of 9m above the place where you put your bag! You need to be careful with overhead trees, electrical wires and carports or overhanging decks. (See picture below). Check all these things carefully before you start to load it, or you might be left with a full bag that no one will collect. Don’t forget that your prepaid pick up fees are not refundable if the company cannot collect your bag due to any of this.
Junk Run can obviously offer a far more (excuse the pun) “flexible” solution to this, we can use driveways with far less space restrictions. We only need a height clearance of less than 3m. Like the photo shows above, we are often called to clear bags that have been placed in the wrong places.
Sustainable Solution?
A Flexibag/bin is made with woven polypropylene which is plastic….
The bag will get collected and will go to the nearest landfill station where they are dumped – so it is in effect a single use plastic bag option for your waste. While this may be helpful for you, it is certainly not helpful for the environment.
Junk Run will hand sort and separate everything, and we will reallocate/recycle as many items as possible from the waste we collect through community groups, charities and social enterprises, maximising diversion away from landfill.
How to arrange your pick up!
You need to call or go online and pre-pay for your Flexibin/bag collection. The website says the bags will be collected within 5 working days of payment. Junk Run can come to your house the same day or next day (depending on your location) and will get the job finished for you. Payment will be due at the completion of the job.
We get lots of calls to rescue Flexibins and bags that have been left behind as the operator will not or cannot collect them due to one of these issues. We get also quite a few calls from frustrated customers left waiting much longer than the specified 5 days- who find themselves up against a deadline (moving house, having a special occasion or need waste cleared for a building project) with no guarantee of when that big orange bag (that is now too heavy to move), will be collected.
Next time you are considering a big clean out at your place, think about Junk Run and how much easier this could be for you and for the environment and that there are more sustainable alternatives to Flexibins/bags and skip bin hire.
