07903853136 Skips are a popular option for when you have a lot of waste that needs removing (or rather sitting in your driveway for a while before being removed). They come in a variety of sizes, are simple to use and are incredibly durable. However, with the prices of skips continuing to go up, they are becoming rather expensive options, especially when you compare them with other methods of waste removal.
Seeing that you have clicked through to this blog article, I’m guessing that you agree with me. Let’s then look into why skips are so expensive, access their downsides and explore the available alternatives.
Why are skips so expensive?
There are two main reasons why skips are so expensive:
- Waste collected in skips usually goes to landfill
Besides this being a massive downside to hiring a skip, it also drives up the costs due to the landfill tax – it’s an environmental tax owned by all organisations that dispose of waste in a landfill site. The purpose of this tax is to encourage people and organisations alike to seek alternative methods of waste disposal, such as waste management companies that recycle the rubbish.
There are two rates for the landfill tax – the standard rate applies to active waste (waste which decays and/or may contaminate the environment around it) whereas the lower rate applies to inactive waste (waste that won’t have a negative impact on the environment such as rocks, soil or sand). As it stands in 2022, the rates per tonne are:
Standard rate = £98.60 per tonne
Lower rate = £3.15 per tonne
As you can see, this is going to drive up skip hire costs, especially if you’re disposing of active waste.
- You require a skip permit
If you are placing the skip on private land such as a driveway, then you won’t have to pay for a skip permit. However, if you’re placing it on public land such as a public road, you will have to get your wallet out. The cost of skip permits varies depending on the size of the skip and where exactly you wish to put it, as well as which council you have to pay. The average price of a skip permit in the UK is £30 but they can go up to around £300 in some areas.
Both of these can really drive up the cost of hiring a skip. If the price isn’t enough to deter you from using a skip, consider the following points too.
The downsides to hiring a skip
As I said at the beginning of this article, skips definitely have their upsides such as being available in a variety of sizes and being incredibly durable but they also have a far few downsides, such as:
- They cannot be moved once they come off the lorry so if there’s some sort of issue like the skip being placed over an outlet that you need immediate access to, you’re a bit screwed. You’ll simply have to wait until the lorry can next come and move it for you.
- On the topic of the lorries that deliver and collect the skip, they’re quite large. So, if the road leading to your property or office is narrow, it’s literally impossible to get a skip.
- If you need to remove anything less than 60 bags of waste, a skip is going to be too large for your needs.
- A skip will sit on your driveway or outside on the street. Not only will it be an eye sore for everyone but it will also deprive you of your parking spot.
- As I touched on before, the rubbish that is collected in a skip is often sent to a landfill. This is clearly not good for the environment so if you care about it, you probably wouldn’t want to use a skip. Instead, opt for other alternatives that recycle the waste.
Skip alternatives
A great alternative to skips is hiring a waste removal company, or as others may call them – man and van waste removal services. There are multiple benefits to rubbish removal companies over skip hire:
- It’s considerably cheaper – they don’t require landfill tax to be paid as the rubbish is recycled wherever possible and no skip permits either, making this an attractive alternative.
- As mentioned above, the rubbish that is collected by a waste removal company is recycled wherever possible by professionals who know how to handle every type of waste.
- You don’t have to load the rubbish yourself as you would with a skip. A waste removal company will load all of the rubbish for you.
- It’s far quicker – waste removal companies are in and out. They collect the rubbish and will be on their way within no time. Allowing you to keep your driveway for what it was made for, parking.
Summary
The truth is that unless you are on a building site and are going to produce tonnes upon tonnes of rubbish, hiring a skip may not be a good option for you (hiring a skip may not even be the best option for building sites). The combination of the high price associated with hiring a skip, the amount of time it sits there, needing to hire someone to load it or load it yourself and the rubbish going to landfill are enough to turn anyone off.
Instead, opt for rubbish removal services which treat the environment well and remove your rubbish quickly and effectively at a cheaper price. If you’re located in and around the Durham area and would like to hire a rubbish removal company, contact us today for a quick quote.