Bubbles & Bins

Commercial waste collection for holiday lets across Wales, Cornwall and the Lake District

Bubbles & Bins is a small, family-run business that collects and disposes of waste from holiday lets and other commercial premises. It presents itself as the only full-service operation combining waste collection, hot tub servicing and home maintenance across the main UK holiday areas. The company works with holiday let management companies, private owners and commercial landlords, and holds Environment Agency Waste Carrier Licence No. CBDU527306.

The service is built around the practical constraints of holiday cottages: collections are weekly or fortnightly, taken directly from the bin store, driveway or wherever the owner asks, so guests are not expected to remember a bin day or move bins to the kerbside. The company uses small, purpose-built vans that can reach rural locations and narrow country lanes, subject to a safe place to stop under normal highway code rules.

How the collection service works

• Weekly or fortnightly collections, with the day varying according to the week's route.
• Collection from the bin store or any point the owner designates, with no kerbside presentation required.
• Visual confirmation of each collection: an email at the start of the week gives an estimated time and a tracking link, and a second email after collection confirms the exact time and location with a photograph of the empty bins.
• Owners may supply their own bins, which the company marks with stickers, or hire standard 240-litre wheelie bins at 10p per bin per day plus VAT, roughly £3 per month.
• All waste must be bagged. Extra ad hoc collections can be added at peak times for an additional charge, invoiced and paid up front, but only for customers already on an annual or fortnightly contract; one-off collections are not offered.
• Garden waste can be collected through a specially arranged collection carrying an additional charge.

Recycling separation and food waste

For properties in Wales, separating waste and recycling at source is a legal requirement, covering paper and card, glass, plastics and general waste, each binned and bagged separately. In England the company describes separation as not yet a legal requirement, though it recommends it. Food waste exceeding 5kg per week must be kept in its own bin for collection; below that threshold no separation is needed.

Collected waste is taken to a designated waste transfer depot, where bags are opened and the contents sorted on conveyor belts for further recycling. The company states that the rate of waste going to landfill currently stands at under 5%.

Compliance support for owners

The company frames its service around three regulatory points. Holiday lets are classed as commercial premises regardless of whether the owner pays council tax or business rates, so using the free council waste service is described as a criminal offence. Owners are legally required to keep Waste Transfer Notes, which Bubbles & Bins provides free of charge for council inspection, with failure to produce one carrying the risk of large fines.

Sign-up process

New customers complete a sign-up form and receive the appropriate contract, an invoice and a payment link. Once payment is made, bins are delivered if hired from the company, and the first collection is scheduled for the following week; the company states that a new account receives its first collection within seven days.

Coverage areas

• North Wales: wide coverage including Anglesey (Ynys Môn), Conwy, Gwynedd and the Llŷn Peninsula.
• Pembrokeshire and West Wales: the whole of Pembrokeshire, parts of Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire (Sir Gar), and east as far as The Mumbles.
• Cornwall: east of the Fowey river across to Saltash and Torpoint, including Rame Head and Cornwall's 'Forgotten Corner'.
• Lake District and Yorkshire: from Carlisle in the north to Barrow in the south, plus most of West Yorkshire and the Yorkshire Dales east of the M6.

Maintenance call-outs for cottage owners are offered within the same service areas, alongside hot tub servicing.

Team and regional routes

Inès handles scheduling and administration. David and Gareth cover collections and maintenance in North Wales, including Eryri (Snowdonia) and Ynys Môn. Justin covers Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion, Carmarthenshire and the covered locations in West Wales, while Jon covers Cumbria.

Customer feedback

The site reproduces a selection of Trustpilot reviews and notes that the company can also be found on Checkatrade, Trustatrader, MyBuilder and Bark.com. Reviewers from the Lake District and North Wales highlight the ease of communication, the ability to handle mixed recycling and the small vans that can negotiate narrow Cumbrian lanes and Anglesey roads where larger vehicles struggle; one owner with ten years of holiday letting describes it as the most reliable bin collection service used.