Rubbish mountain goes to auction

Manheim Remarketing removes more than 25,000m³ of rubbish annually from vans, trucks, trailers and plant going to auction; enough to fill 10 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Naturally, the worst offending vehicles tend to be repossessions when they are snatched unannounced.

Among the most common items found are building materials and trade waste like bricks and plasterboard, and scrap metal, plastics and broken glass, but Manheim has come across some weird stuff over the years. This includes a full-size, clothed male mannequin, a sword and, believe it or not, live ammunition.

Vehicle sellers are ably to call upon Manheim’s bespoke rubbish removal and disposal service if the need arises. From household to trade and even hazardous waste, this ensures all rubbish is assessed, removed and disposed of according to the current Health and Safety, waste transfer and handling regulations.

“The issue of rubbish removal is serious and one that Manheim is particularly keen to draw attention to in order to drive up standards in our industry,” said James Davis, director of commercial vehicles for Manheim. “Against our advice there are still vendors who instruct us to sell unprepared vehicles full of rubbish. Ultimately someone has to pay to remove it. This should surely fall to the operator or individual who left it there in the first place.

“Traders benchmark a vendor’s stock against that of others. They are attracted to those vehicles that require the least work to sell-on and expect vehicles to be prepared to an industry standard. Failure to take action could, in extreme cases, cost vendors and their reputations dearly. Consider the sale of a vehicle containing a discarded corporate-branded uniform. If this were to fall into the wrong hands the outcome could be extremely serious.”

Two new Best Practice Guides that cover this, and other key issues, in greater detail have recently been launched by Manheim. The Commercial Vehicle Remarketing Best Practice Guide and the Commercial Vehicle Pre-Sale Best Practice Guide are both available free of charge from its local business team. Call 0844 856 4548 or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for copies.