Whether you’re renovating your home, moving house, or simply just having a spring clean, it’s sensible for you to consider hiring a skip. After all, it’s an economical way of getting rid of everything you need to throw out in just one go. But before you contact a skip hire company, you should first know what items you can and cannot put in skips. This way, you can better decide how big a skip you need and be sure that you’re not going to run into trouble with the skip provider. Here, we share some information about what you can put in your skip, and what you cannot:
What You Can Put in Your Skip
You are allowed to put a variety of household items into your skip, with the exception of some hazardous wastes or anything that can be a danger to people or the environment.
Typically, you can put these in a skip:
- Construction waste
- Old Furniture
- Clothes and other textiles like curtains, sheets, and more
- Bottles and tins
- General household items and junk
- Garden and green waste
- Tiles and bricks
- Plastics
- Wood
What You Should Not Put in a Skip
These are some of the items you should think twice before you put in a skip:
Personal Information or Documents with Sensitive Data
Identity theft is a massive problem that happens both online and offline. You should never use a skip to get rid of documents with any sensitive data, including your personal information. Some criminals wouldn’t hesitate to go through the skip to look for documents with contact information, bank details, and others that they can use to scam or commit other crimes. Even documents like bank statements, utility bills, and CVs should not be put in a skip.
Electronic Devices
Mobile phones, tablets, laptops, and desktop computers also typically hold personal information that skilled criminals cannot obtain. Even if you think you’ve wiped your information from your old devices, it’s not unlikely for someone to still find them. That’s why you should be careful when disposing of old electronic devices. Taking them to a trusted recycling centre is better and safer.
Reusable or Recyclable Goods
We have already mentioned that you are free to put household items in a skip. Now, while you are certainly allowed to do so, you must consider whether or not there’s a better way to dispose of them so that they can be reused or recycled instead of thrown away.
Some examples of items that could be reused or recycled are old clothes, toys, bikes, books, and more that you can donate to charity shops or even sell in a garage sale or on online platforms like eBay. Bottles, cardboard, plastic, and more can be recycled. When you choose to dispose of these another way, you can fill your skip with other items or get a smaller skip hire.
What You Cannot Put in a Skip
After sharing what you can put in a skip, let’s move on to the things you are not allowed to put in, because of the danger they pose to the environment or people. Some of the items include:
Hazardous Items
Many household items can damage the environment and should therefore be disposed of responsibly. Such items include:
- Acids
- Household toxic chemicals like bleach, cleaners, pesticides, and more
- Batteries
- Carpets
- Electrical items are controlled by the WEEE directive, which means you should reach out to your local council to know how they should be disposed of
- Explosives
- Gas cylinders
- Lead-based items
- Lightbulbs
- Mattresses
- Oil-based paints, diesel, or petrol
- Plasterboard
- Tyres
Every single one of these items has to be disposed of in a way that is different from how you would dispose of general waste that you can simply put in a skip. Depending on your local council, these items might be accepted at the local recycling centre. It is highly recommended that you check with your local council to get the information regarding your nearest tip.
Note that there are local councils that offer a free or sometimes a small fee collection service. You might also want to check some high-street shops or supermarkets that might have recycling facilities for batteries and mobile devices.
Other Items You Should Dispose Of With Care
There are items that you should be extra careful with, including:
Asbestos
You should never put asbestos or any material with asbestos in it in a skip. It is highly hazardous and should only be handled by a specialist authorised to dispose of asbestos.
Clinical or Medical Waste
For safety reasons, any biological or clinical waste should not be added to your skip, even if they’re just dressings or needles. Such materials can be highly hazardous to other people and the environment. You can learn more about the proper way of disposing of medical waste on the gov.uk website.
There Might Be Differences Between Local Borough Councils
You must remember that you’re not to put hazardous items that could impact the environment. Every skip hire company will provide you with specific details of what they accept based on what license the disposal facility they take the waste to is holding.
If you do need a special permit to have your skip on a public highway, you will have to pay each local council (which typically has its specific fees, too). Depending on the council, a permit for a skip hire often lasts between two and four weeks.
If you are unsure how things work, you can ask your skip-hire company for advice.
Conclusion
Skip-hire services are a great way to get rid of large amounts of waste efficiently and cost-effectively. However, certain items are not allowed to be placed in skip bins, including hazardous materials. You must be aware of what you can and cannot put in a skip bin, as there may be significant penalties for disposing of prohibited items. Additionally, it is a good idea to check with the skip hire company before placing any items in the bin to ensure that all items are acceptable for disposal. Overall, skip hire is an excellent way to manage your waste, as long as you are aware of what you can and cannot put in the skip.
Enviro Skip Hire is a family-run skip hire and aggregate company in Cheshire that offers a range of skips and aggregates. Reach out to us to learn about our skip-hire services!
