Bonus will we will also teach your partner the importance of taking the bins out

Experience the ultimate driving thrill with this divert.co.uk bin truck driving blast.

If your partner is bored with their normal car along with all the mundane things like acceleration and being able to conduct a 3 point turn without blocking a road for 3 hours? Or perhaps they simply want to live out that childhood fantasy of being a bin man? Then this experience is the perfect chance to go for a ride-along with one of our drivers and experience the life of a bin man.

Mark Hall from junk removal company Divert.co.uk says “You will go out in one of our famous purple trucks. After the tough decision of what to pack in your lunch box, buckle up and enjoy the thrilling miles. Sit back and help co-pilot the rubbish truck and take on the challenging straights and turns and if you’re lucky your driver may let you use the hydraulics and tip the rubbish out!”

To book simply visit divert.co.uk and fill out a form the price is just £99 spaces are extremely limited

A waste company will collect all the stuff your ex left behind and give you chocolates and Prosecco

Valentine’s day is just around the corner, but it’s not all cards and roses for those who have recently gone through bitter breakups.

Often the worst part of a bad break up is the constant reminders of your ex lingering around the house, like their favourite mug or old toothbrush that you need to ditch to help you move on.

Divert.co.uk, a rubbish removal company, have come up with a genius solution to help you get rid of the ghosts-of-relationships-past, with a Valentine’s Day special ex-partner waste collection scheme.

Mark Hall, the company spokesman for Divert.co.uk, explains, “When you’ve gone through a bad break up, binning their stuff can be cathartic to help you move on, which is why we are on hand to help you get rid of the ex.”

“Plus, as a Valentine’s special, we will even provide you with prosecco and chocolates – our gift to you!”

The post-relationship purge

The end of a relationship can be incredibly emotional and being surrounded by things you associate with your ex can only make you feel worse.

In fact, romantic breakups can be so bad, one psychological study found that you can experience symptoms of bereavement, sleep disturbances and a range of mental health problems including intrusive thoughts.

So what can you do with all the stuff from your post-relationship purge?

Before you make like Rachel, Monica and Phoebe from Friends and nearly set fire to your flat with an ex-boyfriend bonfire, Divert.co.uk are offering Valentine’s waste collections for you to finally rid the bad breakup energy from your life.

“Basically, call us up and we will come round and collect your exes’ stuff and take it away for you, no questions asked,” says Divert.co.uk spokesman Mark Hall.

“Bonfires are bad. Let us recycle your ex instead!”

Things Divert.co.uk will collect and dispose of for you include, but are not limited to:

Photos of your ex
Sexy underwear
Toothbrushes and half used toiletries
Collection of old Fifa games
Gifts they gave you that you felt guilt-shamed into keeping, such as ridiculously oversized teddy bears
Their embarrassing CD collection, including an N-Dubz album, Westlife, and Timeless The Classics by Michael Bolton
Die Hard DVD boxset
Fridge magnets from all of the places you travelled together
The pillow they slept on and dribbled into every night
Hall: We will get rid of anything you don’t want from your past relationships in an environmentally conscious way, by donating reusable items to charity and recycling the rest.

“Although used sexy underwear would count as hazardous waste and will need to be properly disposed of.”

Make a date with Divert.co.uk

We will come to your door, with a quick, easy, and fully-licensed waste collection service that will give you the peace of mind that all remnants of your ex are gone for good.

“We will correctly dispose of all waste, so there will be no further disappointments for you in terms of fly-tipping notices or fines for you to pay,” says spokesman Mark Hall.

“Once all memories of your ex are out of the building, you can rest assured that you won’t have to face them again.”

But because Divert knows that closing the door for good on an ex can be an emotional rollercoaster, as part of the Valentine’s Day special, all customers will receive a gift such as prosecco, beer, or flowers to help lift their spirits or celebrate the occasion.

Hall: “We know it can be tough to finally let go of someone who was once such a huge part of your life, so we’re offering gifts to help you feel better.

“Unless of course your ex was a terrible person, then you can use the gifts to celebrate saying good riddance.”

“So let us be your Valentine this year, and we can promise we won’t let you down.”

The UK’s testing capacity for Covid-19 may be helping to avert a further rise in case numbers – but the waste produced means a disposal disaster is looming.

According to Government figures, the UK is now testing over 580,000 people per day – or over 4 million people per week – for the Covid-19 virus which is circulating amongst the population. This number includes tests taken at Covid testing centres, door-to-door tests, and the quicker lateral flow tests being used in workplaces and schools – but does not include antibody tests, which check if a person has had the virus previously, so the true number of daily test kits used is likely to be much higher.

Rubbish removal experts Divert.co.uk have raised the alarm over the sheer volume of testing kits being used daily and concerns of the accuracy as low as 57.5% making this a very dangerous problem. There is a mounting problem for testing centres and facilities: what to do with hundreds of thousands of used tests daily?

As the Covid-19 testing process involves either nasal or throat swabs (or, for antibody testing, blood samples) the kits must then be disposed of as clinical waste, in incinerators. In the past, individual hospitals often had their own incinerators to dispose of medical waste, but this idea was short-lived as the resulting pollution was a concern, and private contractors have handled the waste since the 1990s.

But these contractors are now raising the alarm that their incinerators are at full capacity, and have been for a while, with medical waste quite literally piling up, as a result, the instantly-recognizable yellow medical waste bins overflowing. In turn, this has angered those in the industry who say they have been warning the government ‘for years’ about the need for increased capacity.

NHS chiefs admitted in 2018 that there was a national capacity issue amid growing backlogs of medical waste and clinical waste management firms being forced to store waste above their permitted allowance as a result. Despite this, waste management firms are once again warning of mounting problems as Covid-19 testing places unexpected stress on the system.

Firms, fearful of repercussions like those seen by waste management businesses who were penalised during the 2018 crisis, are turning away contracts for Covid-19 test centre waste, leading many to call the issue a public health ‘emergency’.

Spokesperson Mark Hall of Divert.co.uk said:

“It’s important to note that, of course, the huge scale of Covid-19 testing in the United Kingdom is a good thing – it allows us to track the spread of the virus, which is enormously important in tackling the pandemic and allowing us to return to pre-Covid life.

“However, the sheer number of testing kits being processed each day without adequate disposal capacity to handle the waste generated, combined with the accuracy of some lateral flow tests being as low as 57.5% makes it a serious cause for concern, and we hope it will spark further conversations in the medical manufacturing industry about the way in which we approach the issue of medical waste. Hundreds of thousands of pieces of single-use plastic are disposed of daily by the medical industry, from syringes to gloves to the Covid test kits, and many of these seem unavoidable.”

Experts in the field such as Tony Capon, director of the Monash Sustainable Development Institute – speaking to the BBC – are clear that there are long term steps that could be taken to reduce unnecessary medical waste. He said: “When I was beginning my medical career, it was standard practice for things to be cleaned and autoclaved. Medical equipment was routinely cleaned up, sterilised and reused.”

Others note that changes in practices – such as encouraging handwashing rather than glove use, where appropriate – could help decrease excessive waste.

Mark Hall continues:

“We’d like there to be a greater focus on ensuring sustainability in the healthcare field overall. Firstly, by promoting a more sustainably-minded culture where medical workers actively choose to take safe steps to reduce waste, and secondly by minimising waste in the design and manufacturing of single-use items. Creating items which can be safely sterilised and re-used could, over time, lead to huge shifts in how we tackle medical waste as a problem – and it is, in its current format, undeniably becoming a problem.”

Dirty rooms are an online dating disaster

Swiping right, sliding into DM’s, and ghosting are all part of the minefield that is dating in the digital age, but are you being catfished by the seemingly tidy backgrounds in their pictures?

If you’re guilty of having a junk room in your house, you might find that landing that elusive second date is almost impossible, as a new survey shows that over 90% of people said a messy house is complete turn-off.

UK based rubbish removal experts Divert.co.uk know that a house full of mess can leave a bad impression while dating, with 9 in 10 people they surveyed saying they wouldn’t go on a second date with a messy partner.

“Using that junk room in your house for your workspace and zoom dating could be the reason you’re not getting much dating success because it gives the impression that as a partner they will be spending all their time cleaning up after you,” says company spokesperson Mark Hall.

“So before you have that online zoom date, you’re better off making a date with a duster and polish!”

“It’s a deal breaker”

It’s official, online dating has made us picky with our partners now that we are armed with the ability to scan through matches based purely from first impressions.

Hall: “Online daters know exactly what they want from a potential partner and are not willing to waste their time on anyone who does not meet the standards they are looking for.

“And cleanliness and hygiene are often quite high on the list of date-worthy criteria.”

This definitely seems to be the case based on the online poll conducted by on-demand rubbish removal specialists Divert.co.uk, where 90% of 2000 singletons polled said that knowing someone had a messy house would stop them from having a second date.

This has been seen in action on the BBC Three dating show Hot Property, where daters get to snoop around the bedrooms of potential partners before agreeing to a date.

Based on first impressions of people’s homes, those with messier rooms found themselves unlikely to score a date and received much more critical responses from participants of the show.

Sam Gosling, a Professor of Psychology at the University of Texas explains this behaviour, “If I met you briefly for an hour, I just have a sample of your behaviour. Whereas if I go into your bedroom – that’s many weeks, months, or years of accumulated information, which is often hard to fake, and can be a more reliable indicator of what someone is like.”*

Hall: “You might think you’ve made it unscathed through the first date but bringing someone back to your cluttered room could be giving out all the wrong signals and ruining your love life.

“It’s time for you to break up with your bad habits to clean up the dating scene.”

Tips for dating success

Look, we know that having a perfectly tidy house is not always practical or achievable, especially if you live with other people – even neat-freak Monica from Friends had a locked cupboard full of junk so nobody is perfect.

However, if you are guilty of being a cluttered Casanova, then here are some suggestions of what you can do to improve your chances of getting past the first date mark.

Have a sort out – Do you really need to keep every single relic of your childhood? It’s best to keep the most treasured items and sell or donate those just sitting around gathering dust.
Create better habits – Making the effort to put your clothes away instead of chucking them on the floor or taking plates and cups back to the kitchen will quickly help your house to feel cleaner.
Invest in better storage – If you’re finding it hard to part with a lot of your clutter, invest in storage tubs to put things in that can fit into unused space such as on top of cupboards and under the bed.
Hire a cleaner – If your biggest excuse for a messy house is because you’re too busy to run the hoover around, then maybe it’s time to call in the professionals for a weekly freshen up.
Hall: “You don’t want the longest relationship you’ve ever been in to be with your junk, so if you’re serious about finding true love, perhaps it’s time to part ways with some of your clutter and give your house a good spring clean.

“At the end of the day, your junk won’t keep you warm at night!”

Don’t dump your rubbish – Divert it

No more dodgy white van man, go purple

This has been the year of the clear-out, with many people taking the extra time at home to embark on house renovations and garden improvements – but who do you trust to get rid of your rubbish?

But all of these household upgrades have created a surge in waste, and the new, best way to get rid of it is to DIVERT it to a cheaper, more ethical and greener local disposal service.

Members of the team behind BusinessWaste.co.uk the 59th fastest growing company in the UK (Sunday Times fast track 100), Yorkshire-based experts in recycling and waste disposal for businesses of all kinds, have responded to this increasing demand for waste collection and set up Divert.co.uk, a fully-licensed man and van waste rubbish removal service for households and businesses.

Divert company spokesman Mark Hall explains: “There’s huge demand for a competitive, friendly and eco-conscious local waste disposal service in the Yorkshire area that can quickly collect anything, so we’ve launched Divert.co.uk – the reliable way to get rid of your rubbish that won’t cost the earth.

“If you’re looking for a waste service that will collect anything, choose the purple van.”

Ten jobs created for local people

Emerging from the same stable as BusinessWaste.co.uk – one of the UK’s 100 fastest growing companies according to The Sunday Times – Divert.co.uk is a person-with-van waste removal service that’s cheaper, more reliable, with the guarantee that we’ll shift your waste legally and process it with the environment in mind.

Booking a collection is quick and easy, everything is done online, generating instant prices to make customer interaction effortless.

Hall: “We’re committed to providing a friendly service which is convenient and great value for money, all while getting the job done properly.

“Our competitive prices cover everything including labour, so you won’t get stung by any nasty hidden charges.”

Co-founder and managing director Adam Bailey who says Divert will create 10 new jobs within the coming months, and will initially focus operations around the York, Leeds, Bradford, and Harrogate areas.

Bailey: “We’re starting with one van and are aiming to expand to 3-6 in the first year based on the current climate, which will create more jobs in the local area.”

But Divert.co.uk isn’t just focused on boosting the local economy, they want to tackle the rise in fly-tipping across the UK often caused by unlicensed waste carriers.

The Countryside Alliance reported a 300% rise in fly-tipping in some areas of the UK during the first UK lockdown*, so it’s worth taking the time to hire a company like Divert.co.uk that is fully-licensed to legally dispose of your waste.

Hall: “Why take the risk of finding out that the cheap man-with-a-van you paid to get rid of your rubbish has dumped it in a hedge when the council comes round with a fine you’ve got to pay?

“You might as well spend your money wisely and avoid the risk of prosecution, not to mention damage to the local environment.”

The purple van with a green plan

There has been a lot of emphasis on cutting down waste products to reduce the impact of global warming, which is why it is important to Divert.co.uk to be as environmentally friendly as possible.

“We are the waste company that hates waste, which is why we don’t take anything to landfill,” says managing director Adam Bailey. “Instead we make sure that everything is either taken to local charities or recycled.”

Landfills in the UK are often the first port of call for anyone having a declutter, but a huge number of recyclable and reusable items end up discarded, including sofas, duvets and mattresses which take up more than 26.2 million cubic metres of England’s landfill space annually.**

As part of the reduce, reuse and recycling initiative, Divert actively work with local charities to donate items that can be reused, and are always on the lookout for new charity partners.

Company spokesman Mark Hall says, “We want to encourage sustainability in the Yorkshire area, so working with charities to give items a new lease of life is a perfect way to engage with the local community.”

As well as reducing waste, Divert.co.uk aim to limit the amount of waste they generate, with an expert team using the latest technology to put together a waste collection schedule which maps out the most fuel-efficient route every day.

And for every collection Divert pick up, they will plant one tree.

Hall: “We’re making a promise to help regreen Britain, and planting trees is a great way to offset our CO2 emissions.”