Reviews of Emterra Environmental (Scrap Yards)

Michelle Lee

Should really rethink their policy regarding the bin size. Just moved to the area, (which was a new development) and purchased a bin for recycling only for them to not pick up due to height which was not widely advertised or communicated. I understand there is risk of weight but more often than not, it’s filled with plastic waste which is pretty low weight. Pretty annoyed. Checked outside and saw several houses with the same bins not picked up. Foresee a lot of ppl peeved with the company.

Steven Barrett

Our strata complex has service quality issues almost every week with Emterra. Bins are regularly tossed about on our front lawn, damaged, and moved to opposite ends of the complex instead of being returned to where they were placed. We have also had some bins left behind full, without infraction tags, despite being placed at the curb before collection time (the night before) in an orderly manner at the curbside. These problems continue despite reaching out by phone and email to the company multiple times over the past year. Avoid Emterra if you have the option!

Shane Sela

Worst service. Unhelpful and rude. Only reason this company exists is because it’s the only game in town.

sabrina mazza

This company left both their big and small truck on my street blocking 3 driveways because they decided it was a smart idea to pull off a larger road onto a very small one for break. They gave me a hard time when I asked them to move so my daughter could actually park in my driveway.

Troy More

Do we have to call on the morning of pickup to remind them not to forget our street? I'm tired of having to constantly chase them to come back the next day after forgetting our street AGAIN. Someone get their supervisor a map.

Scott Cromie

Might show up anytime!? Then only pick up from half of the street! Good choice Peterborough....

Lynne Bowles

Rude and abrasive.

Sara Roberts

Horrible, condescending and rude customer service. If you can make other arrangements to recycle do it.

Kristina Rose

Emterra could not or would not pick up the recycle today because of three inches of snow. I was told by Emterra to wait two more weeks and put it back out then. A months worth of recycle including Christmas Wrap and boxes etc??!! in those little boxes??!! Alpine by the way made it today and picked up our garbage! Kudos to Alpine! Maybe Stew and the boys should have the CRD recycle contract!! I also received my mail today and my Newspaper!! C'mon Emterra!!!!! Step up to the plate!!

Julia L. B.

Had a question about why some boxes weren't taken and the customer service man was very understanding and was able to accommodate. Very impressed.

Katherine Morris

my 80 yr old mum, who has lived at the same address since 1982, had her recycling refused stating glass and plastic had to be separated into 2 different bins. There was 1 glass item in the bin, and she's never had a 2nd bin given to her. She called the company, who's answer was to go get in line at the Municipality's waste yard, which currently has a line up of 2-3 hours. She also has Parkinson's and rarely drives. So the Customer Service Rep said the driver could come back on Monday as their Fairfield run stops RIGHT NEXT DOOR. Literally, 5 ft away. They came this morning, looked over at the bins and left. I get it - they probably have 100 people every day that want them to make an exception to the rules....but c'mon. Reading these other reviews is really sad. Most companies care about their Rep, and will answer bad reviews with at LEAST a generic 'sorry for the inconvenience' letter. These guys say nothing. They have a stronghold on the situation, answer to no one, and sadly, it shows.

Travis Kintzinger

Better hope you bin is exactly the dimensions they want or they won't bother with it at all. Its a miracle anyones stuff gets taken. If theres another option where you live id take it if I were you.

Rick Dolishny

Cavan Monaghan collection is late now and the whole blue box thing vs Blue bags worked for years but not with these bozos. Now I just found out my bluebags and black bags are useless. Clear only after January 1 2020. And recycling blows around the street in the wind.

Jordan Baines

Would give it a zero if I could. You would think with this many negative reviews they would actually do something about it. It's a pity common sense for them is not common.

Alexie Clarke

Very unreliable

Bruce Le Smith

Terrible customer service (customer service is more than answering phones & sending snail mail). I've been hearing lots of stories about using IoT devices and AI systems to drive disruptive business and improve service levels. If you're a startup, maybe out of UVic, Royal Roads, UBC, etc. and you want to take over a service area, then please take over this one. I need someone who can pick up 6 bags of leaves at once, not just 2 once a month... Update: There are limits to curbside recycling pickup, I've had the driver leave stuff behind at my place. And the enforcement by drivers is inconsitent and rude. Can please someone start a new recycling company in town and put this one out of business?

Richard Milwain

We do there work and they do sweet f all 10 thumbs down!!!

Sterling Larry

They've figured out that you can charge cities and just not pick up recycling. This rating reflects that

Angie Martin

Excellent. We needed two paper recycling blue bag and recived two that we needed for free.

Dani Jones

Worst service ever . Never take the bins when they are right . They always leave the Amazon packages that clearly say recyclable. Leaves the recycling all over my yard when they don't wanna pick it up .very rude service.

Michele Aguado-Parkin

I know and you know, many of us work hard without acknowledgment. Some positions moreso then others. So being a person who takes pride in leaving the small footfrint possible, I do my very best being a conscious individual of our environment. We recycle all that is possible including food scraps. We show appreciation to our recycling provider and driver by ensuring all is cleaned, sorted, and complied into an appropriate bin. Unfortunately today my driver did not show the same respect and this is a reflection on the company Emtara and training. Today, our driver stopped in front of my neighbour's and picked up their paper/cardboard bin and attempted to toss the contents in the truck. The contents did not immediately disperse, so he threw the bin down on my garden bed breaking the flowers and littering the debris all over the area. This is extremely upsetting and unfortunately not disappointing after reading the site reviews. I will also be contacting the City of Langford as our tax dollars should be relocated to a company who completes their business properly in a professional manner. I also recommend the managers start caring for the their people, so in turn their people will start caring for the client's in a manner that shows.

Ross

Well my God... a cereal box was in the box with everything else.. guy puts a sticker on it and leaves everything.. well guess what? That's the end of recycling for this house! It's all trash now.. That was easy...

Jamie Lesner

Summary of Emterra based on a 3 week evaluation. Week one: 1 day late, the worker threw our 3 recycle bins in the middle of street, which led to 2 bins and a car carrying 2 kids inside to be damaged. A day late again. Week 2: the worker decided to empty our glass bin on the sidewalk and not take any paper bins. (Broken glass everywhere) We had to clean up his mess. Unfortunately we missed a piece in the snow which got lodged in my dogs foot. Cost us 189$ to remove it. Week 3: they didn't even bother showing up. If you drive down Hilliard st. On Sunday march 1st you will see the whole street hasn't been picked up yet. Pick up should have been on Wednesday. Called city, called head office..Clearly someone in the municipality is getting kickbacks and/or bribes from this company. There is no way ppl can operate in this kinda fashion without having higher ups covering for them.

Chris L

Thanks for breaking my large bin today I appreciate it. Thank god for ring door bell camera shows how careless your employees are!! Brutal never had a bin broken with the previous company for as long as they did it. Respect other people’s property I’ll be calling Monday and you will be replacing it!!

Kim C

Terrible recycling pick up. Always missing our street.

Kyle Colvin

Well from the start either was in the night or didnt come at all. So now leave a note bins go curbside???? Firstly show me a curb on my street, secondly any closer to the road people run them over.....maybe get a desk job if 6" step is too far.

Ky

Driver leaves bins without indicating why they were rejected, simply leaves a notice and marks "other" without filling in the reason.

Danielle PhoenixRaven

Perfect company! Always picks up my bins nicely. Thank you from Regina Ave!

Anastasia Cyprus

Your policies are absurd. We have a tremendous amount of recycling and to put it into bins under 10 litres would mean over half a dozen bins. The bins are full of light weight plastic that I could lift with one finger. Your drivers are petty and over zealous. They pick out items and throw them all over the yard and throw the bins down breaking them once they are emptied. Your telephone customer service was less than helpful. I wish there was another option in Victoria. Get it together.

Samantha Etzel

Happened a few times - they don’t pick up things for dumb reasons. Our FN pay a lot of money for them to do the pick up and not only that … the stuff they don’t pick up ends up in the garbage…. For whatever reason they didn’t take all our glass and didn’t leave a note stating why? Seems to happen a lot in my community! Do your job!

Tyler Trefz

Another tax paying home owner who wishes the CRD would contract out recycling pickup to someone else. We recently have had one of our containers not picked up because it is a few inches too tall. Its a ridiculous policy that makes no sense considering these bins are full of light plastic. To add insult to injury all of our neighbours use these exact same bins that are the same size as ours and don't seem to have any problems with their pickups.

Derek & Joanne Pinto

They haven't picked up our recycling in 8 weeks. We call them constantly pleading/begging them to pick it up but to no avail. Have even offered to drop it off ourselves! We continue to pay our taxes without receiving the services we are paying for. Emterra is taking money from the city of Victoria without providing the services the city is paying them to deliver.

Jocelyn Fisher

I am literally on the same road as emterra and they forget about us every single collection day. I have to email them the following day to remind them that they have forgotten about us yet again. You would think after a dozen emails about how we were missed would maybe fix ther problem but no, doesn't help at all.

Mike Deigan

Thanks so much for: throwing my bins on the ground so they break, throwing stuff that doesn't meet your requirements all over the ground or my personal favorite just not taking an entire bin because there is one piece in there that shouldn't be (usually glass in with plastic that was moved by homeless people collecting for bottle deposits).

J M

Okay so Thursday, November 8th, I’m in my living room when I hear a recycling truck drag my car a foot down the street, severely damaging it beyond repair. Now my car is written off, a car with extreme sentimental value I’ve put 6 thousand dollar into the past few months, and started a business with. It’s been 4 days now and I’m unable to work, and won’t be able to get a rental until Monday. You did not report the accident in time for the weekend and hertz is closed. Thanks for ruining my vehicle, your driver didn’t even sweep up the broken plastic and metal, and we live next to a kids playground. Maybe hire better drivers or screen for drug usage, I am incredibly disappointed with your service and your choice of heavy equipment operators.

nick f

If I could put zero stars I would. What a useless bunch of dummies. Thanks for the great customer service and amazing curb side pick up......deep sarcasm.

Kristin McCutcheon

The drivers that do waste collection in my town are wonderful. They take a few moments with the kids and parents to explain their blind spots & safety measures around the trucks. Major kudos to your Wellesley drivers!

Fred Gagnon

They didn't do the work and don't care. I called CRD, I emailed CRD. I emailed Emterra and called them as well. They aren't doing it and that's it. They missed a few streets in our area. I called the same day in the evening. They didn't answer until a few days later. The email basicay said we ask people to just put their recycling out next time. They come every two weeks. So if they miss their day, they aren't capable of figuring out how to get it done at any other time within the next cycle? It's also frustrating that CRD is fine with that kind of response. Basically the contract must say do your job if it's convenient but if you don't do it, it's all good. I wonder if that leniency applies to other CRD residents. Maybe I don't have to pay for my sewage or water consumption. Maybe I should ask if I can just pay the bills I want to pay. I'll give it to this company, they have a sweet deal. And the bad driving and stuff left all over the place is bad too. I just never bothered complaining because they picked most of it. I guess I was lucky until now. To answer your comment about emailing you to report my dissatisfaction, yes I emailed AND called. The receptionist said that it was due to the heat wave. I completely understand that the unusual heat must have created challenges. My issue is that the days after your missed pick-up it was 22 degrees. Just because you can't fulfill your responsibilities at the ideal time, it shouldn't mean you should give up and simply not do it. Before ending the call I confirmed with the receptionist that they were just not going to do the work rather than try to do it differently and she paused and said yes. If you see your dentist every six months and there is a scheduling conflict to one appointment, do you make another appointment for the same week at a more convenient time, or do you just skip it until six months down the road? The latter is what Emterra has done. Just as frustrating is that CRD is fine with that, apparently.

Wendy Wilson

I was so excited to hear that you offer door service with people who have mobility issues. Set it up at the end of August and as of today, no one has picked it up on a regular basis so I have to call in every two weeks on pick up day to find out why it has not been picked up. Ladies who answer the phone are polite and understanding and say they will pass it on to the supervisor then someone is sent out to pick it up. I called in today as no pick up on Wednesday, was told it would get passed on to the supervisor again and that it would get picked up today. I asked her to get the supervisor to call me as I would like to talk to him. No call from the supervisor and bins did not get emptied today. MY QUESTION IS: Why offer a door service when no one ever comes to pick it up?

Dan Tens

Our experiences with Emterra and Harash have always been positive. They are always happy to receive our material and we have no hassles delivering product to the site. The staff are always polite and friendly with our employees.

Shivraj Chatha

My personal experience with Emterra Burlington has been so wonderful till date and they always serve me with best and fast services. Jagdeep and Harash both are so friendly and professional guys. I am grateful being working with these guys and would highly recommend Emterra .

ABDUL AHMAD RAZA QADIRI

Rude and disrespectful garbage drivers. Paying taxes for this city..cant wait to move out from Brampton.

Sarah Johnston

Horrible service. The city needs a new contract

Jatin M

It is a doing good job at this time .

Scott Campbell

Constantly leave recyclable items in the bin, no notice given as to why they aren't picked up. Try calling the office after 4pm and there's never an answer (Google says they're open until 5pm). Once they didn't take my bin so I took it across the street and they picked it up from that side of the road; I think they just pick and choose what they want to pickup. Constantly leave bins in the middle of the driveway so I have to stop on a busy street to clear the bins. Drivers are useless, management is clearly useless as nothing's got better over the years. Hopefully the CRD gets a new company to collect blue bins.

Satwinder Singh

It's always my pleasure working with Emterra Team. Harash and Donna are always very helpful.

George Bush

It’s a hard job year round good job. If you want your recycling picked up don’t put glass in it. If glass gets broken and mixed with the paper it CAN NOT be recycled. Anyone who complains on here should apply for a job. It’s only 10hr days climbing in out of a truck doing thousands of homes. Would you like them stuck on your road in the snow and/or running someone over. These commentators are the laziest, rudest, condescending, and most entitled narcissists I’ve met.

Steven deVries

Commercial recycling pick-up service is very poor. They are constantly missing pre-arranged pickups, and we have to call every month to remind them. The dispatcher predictably blames it on new drivers, or lying drivers.

Jarrod Rimas

This company and employees are a joke. Can’t keep a schedule to save their life. Been over a month since a pickup, yet they say it’s due to weather and such. Funny.. GFL, has no problem coming every week at the same time every time, and yet Emterea can’t make it in a month! What exactly are we as home owners paying for?? No service, we should be refunded at the very least. “Top Environmental Companies” is pure fiction, how environmental are you if they don’t even take glass…straight to the land fill. Terrible service. I would have put 0 stars if it would have let me

Bhupti

Very good experience with team members of Emterra All peoples are helpfull and responsible.

J W

Completely useless.

Joe Buddy

Awesome place to eat lots of things to pick through your choice

Bonnie Shearer

Recycling left on Ashburnham point or the point in east city on November 15 2019

Jordan Lauriente

Terrible service always making an excuse to not actually pick up my recycling. Never have I seen service this bad. When I called with questions about why they weren't picking up my bins I was met with the rudest reply ever. Laziest, stupidest, rudest company ever. Still the same issues if not worse as of a year after this review.

Sasha Johnson

I wish I could give this company negative stars. The drivers are rude, looking like they have just rolled out of bed after a week long bush party. They have zero desire to actually do the job they are paid to do, and after continual requests and reminders they regularly “forget” about the existence of an entire cul de sac. Their driving skills are generally atrocious, having personally witnessed them run over or hit sprinkler heads, lawns, flower beds and trees. The fact that they refuse to back up to our location (like every other vehicle of equal or larger size does) is probably a blessing, because for reals, hide your kids and pets when these clowns come barrelling down the road. ???? Management is also really reluctant to help and pretty oppositional when faced with facts. Having to contact them on a bi monthly basis to remind them to pick up is beyond maddening.

Chris Smith

Bought bins with lids otherwise the wind will blow my stuff all down the road, the pick up guys constantly leave the lids OFF the bins when it'd written to shut the lids on them to prevent them from blowing away or rained in. Also they left a whole bin full with a sticker on it cause it had one glass jar in it. Are your workers mentally challenged or just lazy?

Jibran Moin

Hardest ever to deal with no help communication at all

Nathan

I am left with no explanation as to why certain items are not collected. one time I received a note stating the reason was because my items were not separated enough. I get home today and I'm left with a bin containing nothing but glass containers. how am I supposed to separate them any further than this? please explain, because I've been here 6 years and only after my property switched to your service did I have any problems. I attached a photo showing how my bin was left. if you have any way that these could have been better separated let me know, because I'm genuinely baffled.

Kyle Murphy

After always accepting a tall marked blue bin, today they refused it for being too tall... Never has it been refused, and it is a regular blue bin like my short ones.

Tweety Thompson

Excellent people and very helpful.

J J

After 19 days between pickups I had a large amount of recycling, as per usual your a@!hole driver left stuff behind. All was nicely separated, large cardboard cut down to your 2’x2’x2’ requirement (I used a tape measure), plastics, glass and tin not touching. I realize you dont care and your drivers hate their jobs, end of the day I dont care. Into black garbage bags and tossed into one of your large recycling bins!

Clive Hall

I want to apologize to a driver in the Colwood area who took the brunt of my anger just after the Canada day holiday. I was totally in the wrong regarding the fact that you had left a full container of plastic recyclables. I should have read the requirements for box sizes more closely. You have a very difficult job...I appreciate what you do no matter the weather. You did not deserve the way I treated you and I am truly sorry. During the entire incident you were extremely polite and respectful...I cannot imagine how hurt you must have felt...i sincerely apologize and wish you all the best. C.Hall

Ian Young

Recycling was out on time and at the curb for 14 hours. Call centre agent first told me we likely had a green sticker on bins and they were not picked up as we did not sort properly. Checked bins ... NOT TRUE . Next told me she talked to driver and they did the route ... and our stuff was not out. NOT TRUE ... I know for a fact it was as I put to out 30 minutes prior to first possible pick up time. Agent refused to put me in touch with a manager to escalate .. basically called me a liar and said "wait for 2 weeks". I will be pursuing until satisfied.

Dispatch Ontraio Transway

Awesome Experience, dealing with HARASH KHATANA from many years. Very helpful.

Jay Fitzpatrick

We support this company with our services and find the crew in charge of production to be some of the best. Jagdeep is technically savvy and understands the situation quickly and is very decisive. Harash has skills in organization and fills in seamlessly when needed. Mohammad understands the process so well we appreciate his support. Thank you all

Gold66

Several years ago the drivers who picked up our blue bins at the curb were very pleasant, polite and helpful. Ever since Emterra took over this job I have been met with nothing but rudeness from the regular driver. I was brought up to be nice to people but no matter what I say (good morning, how is your day going, have a good day, thank you, etc.) I am totally ignored by the driver. If he hates his job that much perhaps it is time for him to look for work else where. This same person has also broken my plastic bucket for holding glass jars which I have had to replace. This review and most of the other reviews suggest an ongoing 'I don't care attitude' from both the drivers and the office staff. The 2 times I have phoned the Emterra office I have been met with the same rudeness. This company really needs to be replaced!

Nathan Robertson

I have generally had good experiences with Emterra collecting our residential recycling, however it has really dropped off the last few months. How hard is it to literally make sure everything gets into your truck instead of leaving items strewn on the road and driveway??

Shannon Jost

I've watched them drop some things out of my recycling due to careless handling (they were completely allowed to be recycled). The other worker went to pick it up and the guy who dropped it said "no leave that". So they didn't take my recycling. Not the first time I've witnessed it happen either.

Barb Norton

Worst customer service that I have experienced in 40 years of being a home owner. They have a millions excuses for every time they don’t come as scheduled. Absolutely ridiculous and when asking the service desk about when we can expect pick up, it’s like talking to a wall.

Kevin P

Bins are not all emptied with no note or explanation. Bins left with cut up cardboard inside. Bins thrown into middle of driveway. Are these actions in line with Emterra Environmental policy?

Shannon Haywood

The absolute worst!!!!! Our recycling pick up was suppose to be yesterday guess what its still not picked up yet. Big shocker. Had the same issue in the winter with maybe an inch of snow. We should not have to wait till the next pick up day. It should be picked up on Saturday if you cant make it. Very poor customer service. Nothing but attitude when you call. CRD needs to contract with a different compnay.

Paul Go

I'm fed up with the crew who come to pick up our recycling. If we, or our neighbours, inadvertently put a non-recyclable item in our blue bins, they just toss it on the ground or in the ditch at the front of our property. This morning, our normally tidy cul de sac was strewn with discarded items, many of which were perfectly acceptable items like butter container lids, a plastic peanut butter jar, and some pop cans. On one occasion, the items, some plastic jars, were thrown onto the ground and, when I challenged the crewmen, they responded by saying, "We don't sort; those are glass, not plastic." Seriously!? In any event, accidents happen. Is it any more difficult to leave the item in the bin than it is to throw it in the ditch? And more to the point, if your job is to recognize recyclables from non-recyclable, then you need to do so! If anyone else out there is having the same issues, I urge you to contact your municipality and Emterra, as I have, to complain about the sloppiness, the rudeness, and the litter. Wow!

Michael McNamee

Disrespectful drivers and lazy. Won't take the time to put the bins back nice they just toss them. Or even empty them all way is a small bit is stuck on the bottom. They are so inconsistent. Miss our old company.

clint wood

This company has left my leaf collection on my curb for one full week. I called the company twice and they didn't return my call. A truck drove by three days later and still didn't pick up my leaf collection. I was not told that there was an issue with the garbage, no one communicated with me. Why am I paying taxes for garbage collection and not receiving service? I will be calling my regional councillors and making an official complaint.