Business owners say they could forgo the council service and instead seek out waste disposal management company J.J Richards who are undercutting council costs by 30 per cent.

One local business operator, who wished to remain anonymous, said council could be forced to hand the entire service over to J.J Richards as households could soon follow suit.

“I’m surprised council aren’t willing to negotiate the costs – if it keeps going council won’t need their truck and I’d say J.J Richards will take the lot. “Half the town, I know of, are changing or thinking of it – it’s a big saving.”

Council general manager Lotta Jackson indicated council wouldn’t come to the table and reduce charges.

“J.J Richards has the right to canvass business and provide the commercial bin serv-ice,” Ms Jackson said.

“They are welcome to put in a quotation or tender in the future when council call for such.”

Ms Jackson even suggested the competition would be beneficial to extending the shelf life of local landfills.

“Any service provider who offers such service will assist council with diversion of waste from council’s landfill which means that the landfill life will be extended,” she said.

“Council is charging $77 for a weekly collection of 2.4m3. The fee is less for less frequent pick-ups.

The prices council set for collection and disposal of commercial waste are reflective of the true costs of collecting and disposing of waste in an environmentally responsible manner. It is a user pays system where the creators of the waste pay appropriately to dispose of it,” Ms Jackson said.

But the business owner suggested that their particular business found J.J Richards to be 38 per cent cheaper to do the same job. It equated to approximately a $1200 saving per year, but Ms Jackson suggested businesses could look to alleviate cost pressures by producing less waste.

“Businesses can reduce their cost by the amount of waste they generate and council encourages this,” she said.