Privacy policy

Who we are

The Waste Guys (“we”, “us”) is a waste removal business based in Ballymena, County Antrim, working across Northern Ireland. We decide how the personal information described here is used, which makes us its “controller” under UK data protection law.

Questions about your information, or requests to see or delete it, can go to info@thewasteguysni.co.uk or 07386 260892.

What we collect

When you ask for a quote using the form on this website: your name, phone number, email address, the address or postcode of the job, what you need removed, and the photos you upload. The form also records which page you came from and how you found the site (for example, a Google search), so we know which parts of our advertising work, and the internet (IP) address your device used, which helps us spot spam.

When you call, text, email or WhatsApp us: your number or email address and whatever you tell us about the job.

When we do a job for you: the collection address, dates, what we took away, the price, payments, invoices and receipts, and the waste transfer note for your load.

When you use this website: Google Analytics collects information about how the site is used, such as which pages are viewed, roughly where visitors are (town or region, not your address), the device and browser, and how people arrived. We only see this as totals and trends, not as information about you personally. See “Cookies” below.

Your photos

We ask for photos so we can give you an accurate, fixed price. Please try to keep people, car registrations and personal documents out of them. We use your photos to price and plan your job, and we won’t use them anywhere else without asking you first.

Sometimes we photograph a job before and after we clear it. We only put these on our website or social media with the customer’s permission, and we never show house numbers, faces or anything that identifies you.

How we use your information, and why we’re allowed to

To quote for, arrange and carry out your job, and to contact you about it by email, text, phone or WhatsApp. This covers sending your quote, confirming bookings, day-before reminders, invoices, receipts and payment reminders. We do this because it’s needed to provide the service you asked for (a contract, or steps before one).

To keep the records the law requires, including waste transfer notes and our business accounts for HMRC. We do this because we have a legal obligation to.

To ask how we did. After a job we may send one email asking you to leave a review. We do this in our legitimate interests as a small business, and if you’d rather not be asked, just tell us.

To understand how our website is used and improve it, using Google Analytics.

We don’t send marketing newsletters, we don’t sell your information, and we don’t use it for automated decisions about you.

Who we share it with

We only share your information with the companies that help us run the business, and only what they need:

• our website and job management system hosts, who store the information on their servers
• the email and text message services we use to send you quotes, confirmations and reminders
• a postcode lookup service, which we give a postcode or address to find the full address
• Google, which provides Google Analytics on this website and shows the reviews customers choose to leave
• WhatsApp (Meta), if you choose to message us there
• our accountant, and HMRC or other authorities where the law requires it, such as the Northern Ireland Environment Agency for waste records

These companies can only use your information to provide their service to us. Some, such as Google and Meta, may process information outside the UK. Where that happens, they use the legal protections UK law requires for international transfers.

How long we keep it

Photos sent through the quote form are copied into our job system when your enquiry arrives. The copies on the website itself are deleted automatically after 30 days.

Quotes that don’t go ahead: 2 years after we last heard from you, the enquiry, your photos and your contact details are deleted automatically, unless you’ve booked a job with us.

Jobs we’ve done: we keep job records, invoices and payment records for 6 years, because HMRC requires it. We keep waste transfer notes for at least 2 years, as waste law requires.

Backups of our systems are kept for up to 2 years, and older backups are deleted automatically.

Security log: our job system keeps a tamper-proof record of what was changed and by whom, so no one can quietly alter records. It can’t be edited or deleted, and it’s mostly about our own team’s actions, but some entries may mention a customer’s name or details as they were at the time.

Google Analytics data is kept for Google Analytics’ standard retention period and then deleted by Google.

Cookies

If you click “Accept” on our cookie banner, this website uses cookies from Google Analytics (names beginning with _ga) to count visits and see how people use the site. They don’t identify you to us. If you click “No thanks”, Google Analytics doesn’t load at all.

We also set one cookie, twg_consent, to remember your choice for 6 months so we don’t ask every time. You can change your mind at any time using “Cookie settings” at the bottom of any page. The quote form and the rest of the site work the same either way.

Keeping it safe

The website and our job management system only work over encrypted connections (HTTPS). Access to customer records is limited to our own team, and each person has their own login.

Your rights

You can ask us to:

• give you a copy of the information we hold about you
• correct anything that’s wrong
• delete your information, unless we have to keep it by law (for example, invoices and waste transfer notes)
• stop using it for something you object to, such as review requests
• send your information to you or someone else in a usable format

Just email or call us. We’ll reply within one month, and there’s no charge.

If you’re not happy with how we’ve handled your information, please tell us first so we can put it right. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113.

Changes to this policy

If we change how we use your information, we’ll update this page and the date below.

Last updated: 30 September 2026.