The skip for a garden
| The job | The skip | Holds | Guide price (incl. VAT) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Light garden clearance | 4 Yard Skip | about 40 bin bags | from £366 |
Each line is a job our size guide matches to that skip. Guide prices are for a private-property (driveway) delivery with general mixed waste at a London postcode. Get the price for your postcode. Bag counts assume full 60-litre bin bags — about 10 to a cubic yard. Bulky items take more room than bags.
Every skip on sale, by what it holds:
| Skip | Holds | Guide price (incl. VAT) |
|---|---|---|
| 4 Yard Skip | about 40 bin bags | from £366 |
| 6 Yard Skip | about 60 bin bags | from £438 |
| 8 Yard Skip | about 80 bin bags | from £450 |
| 12 Yard Skip | about 120 bin bags | from £576 |
| 16 Yard Skip | about 160 bin bags | from £672 |
That assumes ordinary garden waste. Once soil, turf or rubble is in the load, the waste decides the skip, not the volume. Every size compared.
Book the waste type that matches the load
The price and the disposal route both follow the waste type you choose, so choose the one that describes the load. A skip that does not match its description is re-weighed and re-charged.
| What is in the load | How to book it |
|---|---|
| Branches, hedge cuttings, grass and leaves | Book it as Green / Garden Waste. |
| Soil and subsoil | Book it as Soil / Subsoil, in a skip of 8 yards or less. |
| Paving slabs, bricks, concrete and rubble | Book it as Hardcore / Rubble, in a skip of 8 yards or less. |
| Fence panels, decking and a timber shed | In the skip, broken down flat. If the load is all timber, choose the waste type that describes it. |
| A mixture of all of them | Choose the type that describes most of the load, and say what else is in it when you book. |
Turf is mostly soil and weighs like it. If the load is mainly turf, ask before you book which waste type to choose. Keep anything that is not garden waste out of a load booked as Green / Garden Waste.
Soil is the part to watch
A skip is sized by volume, but the lorry lifts it by weight, and soil is far heavier than it looks. That is why soil / subsoil and hardcore / rubble go in skips of 8 yards or less.
For more soil than an 8-yard skip takes, book a second skip, or use a grab lorry: it stands on the road, loads a loose heap with its arm from within about 6 m and takes it in one visit. Grab hire or skip hire.
What to check before it goes in
| What | What to do |
|---|---|
| Japanese knotweed, and soil that may contain it | Ask before you book, and say what it is: it has rules of its own (below). |
| Railway sleepers treated with creosote | Never in a skip: the creosote makes them hazardous waste. |
| A cement sheet roof on an old shed or garage | Find out what the sheets are before breaking them: they can contain asbestos (below). |
| Weedkiller, fuel, oil and paint from the shed | Fuels, oils and loose or leaking liquids never go in. Empty, dry paint tins are fine; a tin with paint still in it, or a container of any other chemical, needs asking about before you book. |
| A car tyre | Only if you declare it when you book. Tyres cannot go to landfill; they go to a tyre recycler. It is priced as its own line before you pay. |
Japanese knotweed is not ordinary garden waste. GOV.UK's guidance for England says that if it cannot be dealt with on site it must go to a landfill or incineration facility with the correct permit, and must not be disposed of with other surplus soil. If you have it, or soil that may contain it, ask before you book and say what it is — or speak to a knotweed specialist first.
Asbestos never goes in a skip. The Health and Safety Executive says it may be part of any home built or refurbished before 2000, and lists asbestos cement roofs among the places it can still be found. If you are not sure what a material is, do not break it up: HSE's advice is not to try to remove asbestos yourself without training, and that some materials, insulating board among them, should only be removed by a contractor it licenses. The environmental health officer at your council can advise.
Loading garden waste into a skip
- Cut it down. Branches and hedge cuttings are mostly air until they are cut short and trodden down.
- Heavy at the bottom. Slabs and rubble first, spread evenly.
- Level with the sides, and no higher. A skip heaped above the rim cannot be carried on the road, and under the terms a wasted journey costs £60 plus the return visit at cost.
- No fires in the skip.
Where the skip will stand
On your own drive or land there is nothing to arrange. If the skip has to stand on a public road it needs a council permit, which is arranged for you and shown as its own line in the price before you pay; each council sets its own fee and notice period. The fee for every council, and the options if you have no drive.
A skip on a lawn needs thought: under the terms, ground off the public highway is at your risk — neither we nor the carrier is liable for damage to it unless it was caused by the carrier's negligence.
Where these figures come from
The sizes, what each holds and the prices are our own, read from our catalogue and updated about hourly; each job is matched to a size by our size guide's own lines. What has to be declared is what the booking offers today, and what never goes in is our Acceptable Waste Policy, which is part of our terms. How Japanese knotweed must be disposed of is GOV.UK's guidance for England, and where asbestos can still be found is the Health and Safety Executive's. The reach of a grab lorry is a typical figure for UK vehicles, not a specification.