Why you should avoid using skips at all costs

Maybe you’re decluttering; maybe you’re moving abroad and need to get rid of everything you don’t class as ‘essential’; or maybe a loved one has passed away and their property has a lot of rubbish which needs clearing. Regardless of any of the above circumstances, it can seem the best idea to choose the ‘easy’ option of hiring a skip when it comes to rubbish removal. You’ll rope a few mates in to help and then get someone to take the skip away again. Easy as that.

We’re here to tell you why hiring isn’t the ‘easy’ option at all and what you can do instead.

1. Exclusion criteria

It seems easy enough to hire a skip and just throw everything you don’t need into it. However, there are certain (and surprisingly a lot of) items which you can’t put into skips. These items include mattresses, televisions, fridges, paint, tyres and plasterboard. You’ll more than likely encounter additional costs (in both money and time) when it comes to needing to get rid of items like these.

2. Licence cost

The cost of a 6 yard skip is roughly around £250+ (plus VAT) and the cost of an 8 yard skip is roughly around £280+ (plus VAT). If you haven’t got a driveway, you’ll need to purchase a road licence in addition to the skip hire fees from your local council.

3. The environment

When you hire a skip, no one comes along and segments the items after they take it away. The entire contents of that skip will go straight into landfill and contribute to emission of greenhouse gases that companies like ourselves are trying our hardest to prevent.

Over time, the material in the landfill decomposes and produces methane which is a huge contributing factor to climate change. We see it as this generation’s duty to limit the contribution to landfill as much as we can to sustain our planet.

Items which you class as ‘rubbish’, may actually be recyclable or even donatable. So, a lot of the time, there’s no need for a lot of the landfill to be there, apart from laziness.

4. Manual work

Calling upon your friends for help will usually result in you throwing them a bit of cash, or even a curry and a few beers to say thanks. Not only is this an additional cost, but how bad would you feel if one of them was injured due to them not being trained in manual handling?

What can you do instead of hiring a skip?

Using a House Clearance/Waste/Rubbish Removal company rather than hiring a skip is a fantastic idea, and here’s why:

1. No exclusion criteria

We take your waste/rubbish and dispose of it via the correct methods. This is included in the cost that we quote you.

2. Green ethos

Our entire ethos is based around the environment. We use our Luton van to collect the rubbish/waste where we then segment it into recyclables. We then burn what’s left over rather than landfill it. This means we’re preventing that rubbish from being buried and creating methane later down the line.

3. A capable team

All of our staff are trained to the highest standard. Meaning they’re used to heavy lifting and manual handling. We’re also licensed and insured, so both parties are covered.