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An ‘Uber for garbage’ picks up steam, and $11.7M in Series A funding

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Re: An ‘Uber for garbage’ picks up steam, and $11.7M in Series A funding

#201

Post by mtanski »

phil21 wrote: post #130
mtanski wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's lots of reasons that you have beyond the normal amount of garbage or difficult to deal with garbage. It's really hard to get it removed if you need it on a short notice. A lot of municipalities have limits refuse. For example in NYC you can no longer get rid of electronics in the regular trash. You're supposed to take them to a place that can deal with it. Fair enough. The problem is that there aren't many pl…

Yup, this is a service that already exists in very informal ways. Check craigslist for "trash and junk removal". Having had a garage I recently organized and about a pickup load full of trash/recyclables I would have absolutely loved such a service vs. trying to find someone non-flaky on CL to actually show up when they said they would.

That's what I did when I moved back from SF => NYC. But it occupied a few hours of my time to send emails, wait for responses, try to negotiate time / price. Time I did not have. If I could open a spend 10 minutes, it would be worthwhile in some situations.

Re: An ‘Uber for garbage’ picks up steam, and $11.7M in Series A funding

#202

Post by ensignavenger »

ryandrake wrote: post #153
Tharkun wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I pay roughly a 50% income tax, and in spite of that municipal garbage collection is, well, garbage. Regular waste is easy enough: weekly collection is OK. Larger items which can be incinerated are OK-ish: need to make an appointment two weeks in advance, and pay by weight. Anything else and I'm screwed. I'd like to get rid of a metal ladder, but it can't be incinerated. I'm supposed to take it to a municipal recycli…

Same here. My municipal trash service is awful, and they increase the price every year without making the service better, probably because f-you. They could seriously use some competition. 1. Motor oil, electronics, toxic waste: They say you can't throw them away with the garbage but your only other alternative is to take time out of your weekday to drive that stuff to some government center somewhere (during busines…

As for Motor Oil, most auto parts stores will take it, also, many mechanics will.

Re: An ‘Uber for garbage’ picks up steam, and $11.7M in Series A funding

#203

Post by mikesickler »

I love this idea. Waste Management is the big player in my region, and I've been very dissatisfied with them. They'll jack up the prices, I have no confidence that their 'single stream' collection results in effective recycling, and their pricing is completely opaque.

This is a classic disruptive solution and I wish them the best!

Re: An ‘Uber for garbage’ picks up steam, and $11.7M in Series A funding

#204

Post by ohples »

simonsarris wrote: post #54
jelder wrote: post #5

This is great but what if, hold on, we paid taxes.

Many towns in New Hampshire with spread out population do not want to pay for garbage pickup. Everyone brings everything to the dump themselves. These people "self-uber for garbage" as they say. Some rich folks pay companies like Waste Management to do it for them. What's wrong with that model?

Heck even large towns like Merrimack you haul it your self.

Re: An ‘Uber for garbage’ picks up steam, and $11.7M in Series A funding

#205

Post by tsomctl »

maxaf wrote: post #195
shados wrote: post #188

Gimme one that will take non-standard trash. I can already just call Got Junk and have them take most things. However, the canisters of paints and other crap that needs to be dropped at special locations? They won't take those. Since I don't own a car (by choice), I'm essentially screwed. The disposal locations are only on very specific days with bad hours, and usually in the middle of nowhere. It's the only thing I…

While the paint canisters are definitely a doozy, I've successfully disposed of "weird" things by offering them to the masses via FreeCycle and Craigslist's "free" section. Someone is guaranteed to show up at your home in order to pick up the most useless of objects. I've given away awkwardly sized furniture, old barely working TVs, and other such crap. The capacity of humans to scramble for trash is truly breathtaki…

And when they grow bored with it, they either dump it outside, or let their landlord deal with it when they move out. Meth, not even once.

Re: An ‘Uber for garbage’ picks up steam, and $11.7M in Series A funding

#207

Post by int_19h »

duncan_bayne wrote: post #152
duncan_bayne wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wouldn't it be better if we were allowed to interact voluntarily? Pay for what we wanted and used, and support people and causes through charity instead of under duress?

Too late to edit, so posting a follow-up for clarification: I don't mean anarcho-capitalism, I mean a voluntarily-funded State.

Supposing I would be willing to fund a state; what happens when my neighbor doesn't, while still receiving all the benefits of law & order?

Basically, this is just setting up a giant tragedy-of-the-commons situation.

Re: An ‘Uber for garbage’ picks up steam, and $11.7M in Series A funding

#208

Post by zo1 »

beambot wrote: post #158
ryandrake wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same here. My municipal trash service is awful, and they increase the price every year without making the service better, probably because f-you. They could seriously use some competition. 1. Motor oil, electronics, toxic waste: They say you can't throw them away with the garbage but your only other alternative is to take time out of your weekday to drive that stuff to some government center somewhere (during busines…

> they increase the price every year without making the service better Inflation? EDIT: Not sure I understand the downvotes. The cost of milk goes up every year too, and it doesn't get any better. Between inflation and unsustainable municipal expenditures (e.g. pension plans), it's not surprising that trash service follows the same MO.

Maybe the person meant: "increase the price more than the inflation rate". At least, that's how I'd read such a comment.

Re: An ‘Uber for garbage’ picks up steam, and $11.7M in Series A funding

#209

Post by unclebucknasty »

nilkn wrote: post #56
pdelbarba wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're not paying the gas station price. They're likely paying bulk prices then just using the local prices as your price. Edit: $3 for delivery generally and they're using F250 trucks. Call it 1.5t in the bed or about 400 gallons plus tank. They probably have a contract with the local bulk terminal so if you're paying 2.55, they might be paying 30% (no idea what this margin is) less or so. @400 us-gal if they make…

Gas is actually a loss leader at many/most gas stations. My parents owned a gas station about 10 years ago and one of the reasons they sold it and got out of that business was because competition was so fierce that they had to sell gas at or below the bulk price they paid for it. In other words, they effectively lost a few pennies every time someone bought gas. All profit came from in-store sales of other items.

>Gas is actually a loss leader...all profit came from in-store sales

That and the increasing prevalence of electric cars, Uber, and other shifts are why the gas-delivery model will likely be unsuccessful over any reasonable duration.

The idea seems to be moving in the opposite direction as the rest of the world.

Re: An ‘Uber for garbage’ picks up steam, and $11.7M in Series A funding

#210

Post by VHRanger »

beambot wrote: post #158
ryandrake wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same here. My municipal trash service is awful, and they increase the price every year without making the service better, probably because f-you. They could seriously use some competition. 1. Motor oil, electronics, toxic waste: They say you can't throw them away with the garbage but your only other alternative is to take time out of your weekday to drive that stuff to some government center somewhere (during busines…

> they increase the price every year without making the service better Inflation? EDIT: Not sure I understand the downvotes. The cost of milk goes up every year too, and it doesn't get any better. Between inflation and unsustainable municipal expenditures (e.g. pension plans), it's not surprising that trash service follows the same MO.

Depends on the municipal government. Some municipal governments are truly corrupt and inefficient, so there might be rent seeking and increases in all sorts of costs.

Because it doesn't happen where you live doesn't mean it doesn't happen where he lives.

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