Los Angeles Junk Removal Statistics

Burbank, SFV Contribute to Billion Dollar Industry

Junk removal is a 10 billion dollar industry. You read that right. That’s billion with a B. No wonder in Los Angeles you have so many junk removal companies competing for your junk hauling dollar. The industry includes hauling, moving and packaging of junk as this article on the Food Truck Empire website points out.

A quick search on YouTube for “junk removal statistics” turns up dozens of videos on how to start your own junk removal business. It’s a very popular subject and there’s a reason why. Americans produce a lot of junk.  Period. Call it junk, trash, garbage, bulky items or anything else, the fact remains there’s a tremendous amount of excess “stuff” in this county the needs to be gotten rid of.

According to statistics there are about 14,000 junk removal firm locations in the United States. In each case these companies (just like ours here in Los Angeles) are servicing the needs of Americans who need to jettison their obsolete, broken, unwanted or unwieldly home or office accouterments each day.  The site Alliance Disposal states that the trash industry (of which junk removing is a part) is a $75 billion operation. Part of that industry is garbage pick up and disposal which requires a trip to the local landfill. We have about 2,000 landfills in the United States, each with a limited lifespan so when they become full alternatives have to be found and they won’t be cheap.

The service area of an L.A. junk removal business (such as Bumblebee Junk) can span several hundred square miles, but the cities in the center of this area are usually the ones that make up the better part of a junk hauler’s schedule. In our case it’s Burbank and the San Fernando Valley that keep us hopping.

Recycling Is A Part of Junk Hauling

With the junk hauling portion of the waste industry there is an effort to reduce, reuse and recycle the items junk movers pick up so there’s an environmental aspect to this part of the industry. However, in most cases it’s convenience for the customer (as well as junk removal price) that keeps the trucks running. Junk customers have an immediate need: to get the junk out of their home or yard. Many municipal waste management companies do not take many of the items that a specialized junk hauling team will (like yard waste or construction debris). They need someone to come and pick up the junk and let them get on with their lives. They want the service to be fast, efficient, courteous and cheap junk removal. In Los Angeles, the number of companies performing this service accounts for a good deal of competition which keeps the cost of junk hauling relatively low (although some national companies may not have the leeway to charge below a certain price the way independent junk hauling firms can). In sum, there’s a constant need for removal of junk in L.A..

Electronic Waste (E-Waste) in Los Angeles and the U.S.

Another alarming statistic on the Food Truck Empire website is the fact that electronic or e-waste accounts for 70% of toxic waste in this country.  For whatever reasons Americans seem unable or unwilling to properly dispose of electronic waste (e.g., old computers, DVD players, machines, etc.) some of which contain dangerous elements. One of the upsides of the junk removal professional is that some (such as Bumblebee Junk in Los Angeles) are equipped to deal with e-waste recycling. Other metal items are also recycled thanks to Bumblebee’s partnership with a scrap metal recycling center.  Recycling can add to the revenue of a Los Angeles junk removal  service, but there’s still a need for more people to take advantage of these services.

While communities in the greater Los Angeles area begin to implement more recycling efforts in addition to local garbage collection, there are still items that don’t fit into cities’ plans. These are items that fall outside their restrtictions and its’ up to others to collect and remove them.

Junk removal companies usually take the following: 

• Musical instruments, including large items like pianos
• Clothing
• Hot tubs and spas
• Furniture
• Computers, monitors, TVs, and other electronics
• Large and small appliances
• Tools
• Exercise equipment
• Construction debris (roofing materials, old carpeting, etc.)
• Yard waste
• Boxes
• Books, toys, and other miscellaneous home items
• Air conditioners
• Mattresses
• Bicycles

And (as we state clearly on our website) there are some items junk moving companies just won’t or can’t take.

What junk removal companies really cannot take.

• Gasoline
• Any kind of toxic or hazardous waste
• Asbestos
• Chemicals and solvents
• Oil drums and oil tanks
• Opened cans of paint

Trends in the waste industry are upward. Growth has been a little over 1% in past years, but given that there is no end to the amount of garbage and waste produced by all of us every day and with an ever growing population, the stage is set for continued growth in the junk removal industry as well. This is good news for firms like ours.

Psychological Aspects of Removing Junk

Beautification through removal of junk or waste is one aspect of the industry and if not a need of junk removal customers, it certainly is a by-product of the process, but there’s also another oft-overlooked aspect to what junk haulers do and that’s psychological improvement. It may seem strange to speak of psychology and junk pickup at the same time but there is a very real disorder in somewhere around 2 percent of the population. We’ve written about it previously but it’s the hoarding disorder where some people feel compelled to hold onto every scrap of junk or memorabilia no matter how little or unimportant. Some people have been known to hoard newspapers for decades, never wanting to throw a single issue away.

It’s not our job to diagnose hoarding but we can certainly help relieve those people of a good deal of their “collections” when they make the decision to get rid of it. At the end of the day, this segment of the population is just one more reason why the junk removal industry is poised for continued growth in the Los Angeles area just as it is in other parts of the country.