Waste collection verifier
A small system for anybody with a commercial waste contract: an expected schedule derived from the contract, evidence captured on the morning a collection does not happen, an invoice reconciled against agreed rates rather than glanced at, and fill data that turns ’we have always had four bins’ into a decision. Seven posts on the same system, one diagram at a time, with a cost breakdown and an engineering reference at the end.
- 01
A waste collection verifier on AWS for a few dollars a month
The whole system on one page — the expected schedule, the evidence, the invoice, the fill data — and why the last of those is worth more than the other three.
- 02
How a missed collection gets proved
Capturing evidence at the only moment it exists, the three-button morning check, reporting windows, and why partial collections need their own answer.
- 03
Why a waste invoice never matches the contract
Turning a contract into a rate card, matching every invoice line to a rate, the surcharges worth questioning, and how price escalation clauses actually work.
- 04
How a contamination charge gets challenged
What a contamination charge is, the evidence a contractor should hold, how to challenge inside the window, and the operational fixes that actually stop it.
- 05
What fill levels say about the contract
Using accumulated fill data to change frequency and container size, the seasonal trap, negotiating with evidence, and putting the renewal date somewhere it cannot be missed.
- 06
What the waste collection verifier costs
About $2 a month. One Bedrock read per site is the only line that grows; the queue, the table, the mail and the storage are rounding errors. Plus the three ways the bill could surprise you.
- 07
Engineering reference: the waste collection verifier architecture
Same system, drawn purely for engineers. Service names, region, Lambda inventory, IAM scopes, the schemas and the exact model id.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a waste collection verifier?
- A small serverless system that holds your waste contract as a schedule and a rate card, records whether each expected collection actually happened, reconciles the invoice against those two things, and pursues credits for what did not.
- Why do missed collections go unclaimed?
- Because the evidence has to exist on the morning it happens, and by the time the invoice arrives five weeks later nobody can say with any confidence which Tuesday it was.
- What is a contamination charge?
- A surcharge applied when a recycling load is judged to contain the wrong material. It is often legitimate, it is sometimes applied to the wrong customer, and it is nearly always challengeable if you ask for the evidence within the window.
- Where does the real saving come from?
- Not from credits. From right-sizing: collecting a half-full bin twice a week is a standing cost that fill data makes visible, and changing frequency or container size is worth more than every missed-collection credit you will ever claim.
- What does it cost to run?
- A couple of dollars a month. See part six.