Privacy policy
How Hartes Waste Management collects, uses and protects your personal data.
The short version
We only collect the details we need to quote for, run and bill your waste collections. We never sell your data. We only use analytics if you say yes in our cookie banner. You can ask to see, correct or delete your data at any time by emailing lloyd.harte@hartecycle.com.
1. Who we are
Hartes Waste Management Ltd (“Hartes”, “we”, “us”, “our”) provides commercial food waste collections and rubbish removal across London, Essex and Hertfordshire. We are the data controller for the personal data described in this policy. That means we decide how and why it is used.
Registered in England and Wales.
Environment Agency waste carrier licence: CBDU617131
2. The data we collect
When you ask for a price or a call back, by phone, email, WhatsApp or through our website forms: your name, business name, email address, phone number, postcode and details of the service you need.
When you become a customer: your collection address, site contact details, bin location and access notes, collection history, invoices and payment records. We also hold the waste transfer notes the law requires us to keep for every collection.
When you use our website (hartes.co.uk and blog.hartes.co.uk): basic technical data such as your IP address, browser, device and the pages you visit. We only collect analytics data if you accept analytics cookies.
Most of our customers are businesses. Information about a limited company is not personal data. Details about the people we deal with there, or about sole traders and partnerships, is personal data and is covered by this policy.
3. How we use it and why we are allowed to
UK data protection law says we need a lawful basis for each thing we do with your data. Here is what we do and the basis we rely on.
| What we do | Lawful basis |
|---|---|
| Reply to your enquiry, call you back and send you a quote | Steps you have asked us to take before a contract |
| Set up and run your collections, supply bins and send service updates | Contract |
| Issue waste transfer notes and keep waste records | Legal obligation (waste duty of care) |
| Invoicing, payments and keeping accounts | Contract and legal obligation (HMRC) |
| Running and improving our business, handling complaints and protecting our legal rights | Legitimate interests |
| Occasional news and offers by email | Your consent, or our legitimate interests for existing customers. Every email has an unsubscribe link. |
| Website analytics | Your consent through our cookie banner |
We do not use your data for automated decision making or profiling.
4. Who we share it with
We never sell your data. We only share it with trusted organisations that help us run our business. They may only use it to provide their service to us:
- Airtable, where we keep our customer and enquiry records
- Zapier, which passes website form enquiries into our records and sends our welcome emails
- Google, for website analytics (only with your consent)
- WhatsApp (Meta), if you choose to message us on WhatsApp
- Our website host, email provider, accountants and accounting software
- Licensed waste processing sites, which receive collection details where needed for our waste records
We may also share data with the Environment Agency, HMRC, the police or other authorities where the law requires us to.
5. Data stored outside the UK
Some of our suppliers, including Airtable, Zapier and Google, are based in the USA. Where your data is transferred outside the UK, we make sure it is protected by approved safeguards. These include the UK Extension to the EU-US Data Privacy Framework or the UK International Data Transfer Addendum.
6. How long we keep it
| Type of data | How long |
|---|---|
| Enquiries that don’t become customers | 12 months |
| Waste transfer notes | At least 2 years, as required by law |
| Customer, invoice and payment records | 6 years after the end of the financial year they relate to |
| Analytics data | 14 months |
After these periods, we securely delete or anonymise your data.
7. Keeping your data safe
Our website uses an SSL certificate, so data sent through it is encrypted. Our systems are password protected with access limited to the people who need it. We only use suppliers who take data security seriously.
8. Your rights
Under UK data protection law you have the right to:
- get a copy of the personal data we hold about you
- have inaccurate data corrected
- have your data deleted, where we don’t need to keep it by law
- restrict or object to how we use your data
- receive your data in a format you can take elsewhere
- withdraw your consent at any time, for example to marketing emails or analytics cookies
To use any of these rights, email lloyd.harte@hartecycle.com. It’s free. We will reply within one month.
9. Cookies
Cookies are small files saved on your device when you visit a website. We use two types:
- Essential cookies make the site work, such as remembering your cookie choice. These can’t be switched off.
- Analytics cookies (Google Analytics, named _ga and _ga_*) tell us how people use the site so we can improve it. We only set these if you click “Accept” on our cookie banner.
Our blog at blog.hartes.co.uk runs on WordPress, which may set essential cookies if you leave a comment. You can change your mind at any time by clearing cookies in your browser. The banner will then ask you again.
10. Children
Our services are for businesses and adults. We do not knowingly collect data from anyone under 18.
11. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. The latest version will always be on this page with the date it was last updated.
12. Contact us or make a complaint
If you have any questions about your data, get in touch. Email lloyd.harte@hartecycle.com or call 020 8226 5181.
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your data, please tell us first so we can put it right. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113.