Al Lijee, CEO of Rubbish.com, Gives Us An Insight Into His UK-wide Rubbish Removal Network

Rubbish.com is a UK-wide rubbish removal network of independent operators, who offer a wide range of waste removal services to homes and businesses – from single items, bulky waste and garden waste to full or partial domestic and commercial clearances.

Tell Us About Yourself

My career began in IT, and progressed into internet-related services around the time the internet itself began to be adopted by an increasing number of businesses. It was an exciting time to be part of it all – seeing the benefits of an online presence beginning to be appreciated by businesses of all sizes and sectors.

I have established and grown a number of online niche networks which have gone on to be very popular in their field such as myWindscreen.

If You Could Go Back In Time a Year or Two, What Piece of Advice Would You Give Yourself?

Regardless of which type of service you are delivering, it is vital to ensure that the customer’s needs sit at the very heart of the offering. Make the best possible use of the latest smart technology to enable you to design and deliver rapid, flexible services that are cost-effective and easy to access and use, that way the customer will want to come back time and time again.

What Problem Does Your Business Solve?

Most homes and businesses have unwanted items lying around, and every single person generates waste of some kind, no matter how environmentally friendly we all try to be. Modern housing tends to have smaller storage capacity, and not everyone wants to hire a storage unit.

Skip hire is one way forward – you are in control of what you put in the skip. However, not everyone has room to park a skip on their land, and street parking can entail permits and other problems. Also, you need to load the skip yourself, which can be hard work.

Getting rid of the stuff we no longer need without damaging the environment can be difficult, and you need to be sure that if you pay someone to take it away, your unwanted items will be re-used or recycled as appropriate, and not end up dumped in the wrong place.

Our aim is to make it easy and cost-effective for everyone to dispose of their unwanted items in a way that either benefits others, or at least has minimal environmental impact. We aim to offer a cost-effective and hassle-free alternative to hiring a skip.

What is The Inspiration Behind Your Business?

You only need to look around in towns, cities or the countryside, to encounter litter, fly-tipping and other evidence of poor waste disposal practices. Even if stuff gets to the official waste disposal sites, it makes me angry to see usable items in the skips. Items that could have been re-used, refurbished, re-purposed, or simply handed on to someone else to make use of.

I started Rubbish.com in 2014 with the aim of establishing a network of well-established independent operators who could provide a fast, professional service, and who would make a commitment to re-use and recycling first, before resorting to landfill. Each network member would be licenced, insured and committed to protecting the environment in every way possible, ensuring proper disposal methods and minimal use of landfill.

What is Your Magic Ingredient?

Making it easy for the end user to find and contact their nearest reliable, skilled and certified waste handling service, and ensuring that those service providers deliver at the best possible prices.

What is The Plan For The Next 5 Years? What Do You Want to Achieve?

We want the Rubbish.com network to be the number one choice when you need to clear waste and unwanted items from domestic and commercial premises in the UK. For our network members to continue to deliver fast, cost-effective and environmentally-friendly junk and rubbish removal services. We have also expanded into the US and opened a junk removal portal called JunkGator.

What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?

Apart from the usual setbacks that you encounter in any working life, the last couple of years have to have been the most challenging so far. A global pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns and restrictions have been unhelpful to all our network members.

Sadly, not all the members we started with have completed the journey with us; some have fallen victim to the economic environment and closed. Having said that, there have been a number of start-ups as well, so there is no shortage of new members signing up with us, and the network is still growing.