Switching collector is one of those jobs that sits on a kitchen’s list for months, usually because the current arrangement is annoying rather than broken. When you do get round to it, the difference between a good collector and a bad one is not the rate they quote on the phone. It is everything in this list.
Start with the waste carrier register
Before you discuss anything commercial, ask for the company’s waste carrier registration number and check it yourself on the Environment Agency public register.
You are looking for three things to line up: the registration number, the registered company name, and an upper tier registration covering carriers and dealers. A company that buys and moves used cooking oil should hold upper tier.
This is not box-ticking. Your duty of care makes you responsible for where your waste ends up, and “they told me they were licensed” is not the same as having checked. If a collector will not give you a number, the conversation is over.
While you are at it, look them up at Companies House. A registered company with a filing history is a different proposition from a mobile number and a van.
Ask how and when they measure your oil
Your volume figure does two jobs. It determines what you get paid, and it goes on your waste transfer note as the quantity transferred.
So ask directly: is the oil measured at my premises, in front of my staff?
Collectors who measure back at the depot, or who estimate by eye, are asking you to accept their number for both. That is a bad arrangement even with an honest operator, because nobody can check it afterwards. If a dispute ever arises about volumes or missing oil, you have nothing.
Find out whether there is a minimum volume
This is the question most kitchens forget to ask, and it is where the headline offer often falls apart.
Some collectors set a threshold before any rebate is paid. Below it they will still collect, and still take your oil, but you get nothing for it. Ask what the threshold is, in litres per week, and get the answer in writing.
If you are a cafe, a small restaurant or a site with a single fryer, ask the question in plain terms: what is the minimum before I get paid? We do not operate one, and we say so because it is unusual enough to be worth saying.
Check what containers they supply, and whether they cost anything
Containers should be free, sealed, purpose-made and swapped for clean empties at every visit. Ask:
- What sizes do you offer? Anything from a 25 litre drum up to an IBC should be available depending on your output.
- Is there a deposit, a rental charge or a replacement fee?
- Do you swap them, or do I clean and re-use them? You should never be cleaning waste oil containers.
- What happens if I need an extra one in a busy week?
If you run a smaller kitchen, ask what the smallest drum on offer is. An oversized drum takes an age to fill and sits in your yard for weeks, which is its own problem.
Ask what happens to your paperwork
You need a waste transfer note for every collection, and you must keep them for at least two years. So ask how you will receive them, and how you get hold of an old one.
The honest answers range from good to alarming:
- Digital notes in an online account. You can retrieve anything, any time.
- Emailed copies. Workable, provided you file them somewhere findable.
- A paper slip handed to the driver’s last customer. You will lose them.
- “We keep them, just call us.” Your records, held by someone else, with no guarantee they still exist when you need them.
The test is simple: if an officer asked you for the last two years of notes today, could you produce them without phoning your collector?
Test the response time before you commit
Response time is the most reliable predictor of what the service will actually be like, and you can test it for free before signing anything.
Send an enquiry and see how long a callback takes. Send a WhatsApp message on a Saturday. Ask how quickly a first collection can be arranged, and how quickly an extra pickup can be added when a busy weekend fills your drums early.
Published commitments in this industry vary enormously. Some collectors quote several days just to respond to an enquiry, and the better part of a week before a first collection. If the sales conversation is slow, the service will not be faster.
Watch for contracts and tie-ins
Read what you are signing, specifically for:
- Minimum term. Free collection on a three year tie-in is not free.
- Notice periods. Some require months of written notice to leave.
- Auto-renewal. A rolling contract that renews unless you cancel in a narrow window.
- Exclusivity. Clauses preventing you using anyone else, even for a one-off.
- Charges that appear later. Missed collection fees, container fees, fuel surcharges, admin fees.
A collector confident in their service does not need to trap you. Ours is a fixed day with no contract, and if we stop being worth having you should be able to leave.
Questions to ask before you sign
Copy these into an email and send them to every collector you are considering:
- What is your waste carrier registration number and tier?
- Is my oil measured at my premises, in front of my staff?
- Is there a minimum volume before I am paid anything?
- What container sizes do you supply, and is there any charge for them?
- How do I receive waste transfer notes, and how do I retrieve an old one?
- How quickly can you arrange a first collection?
- Can I get an extra pickup at short notice, and does it cost anything?
- Is there a contract, a minimum term or a notice period?
- What happens to the oil after you collect it?
The answers will separate the field very quickly.
Red flags
Walk away if you see any of these:
- No waste carrier registration number, or reluctance to provide one
- No paperwork offered at all, or paperwork that does not describe the waste
- Cash-only with no invoice and no record of the transaction
- Pressure to sign a long contract on the first visit
- Vagueness about where the oil goes
- A rate quoted that seems far out of line with everyone else, which usually means it is conditional on something you have not been told yet
Your legal exposure does not transfer with the oil. If the person taking it away is not legitimate, that becomes your problem, not theirs.
What we do
We are an Environment Agency registered waste carrier, CBDU649455, upper tier, carrier and dealer, and London Oil Collection Ltd is company number 17353811. Both are public and we would rather you checked.
Collection is free, drums are free and swapped every visit, oil is measured in front of you, there is no minimum volume, waste transfer notes go into your online account, and there is no contract. We collect across every London borough from our base in Slough.
Send us your postcode and we will confirm your collection day.