Rubbish removal van hire vs skip hire

When you’re renovating a home, clearing an office, or revitalising your garden you’ve always got one common challenge to figure out.

What to do with all the waste, junk and old furniture and equipment you’re left with at the end of the project. If it’s been a substantial project it can leave you with a huge amount of waste to dispose of.

Some of it recyclable, some of it not.<br></p><p>Even a small home refurb can leave you with some bulky items like fridges or freezers that you’ll struggle to shift on your own. When it comes to rubbish removal, you’ve got a few options.

1 - Take the rubbish to a tip or recycling centre yourself.

2 - Use a rubbish removal van hire company.

3 - Order a skip.

Now, unless you’ve got a large van yourself and the time in the day to book a drop off time at the local dump or recycling centre, the first option probably isn’t practical. Which leaves the choice of a rubbish removal van hire vs using a skip. So, which one is better for you?

Using a rubbish removal van hire company.

Hiring a rubbish removal company to come and collect and dispose of your home, garden or commercial waste is usually always the better option. But like everything, it depends on who you hire to do it. For the most part though, these are the benefits you should expect to get from a rubbish removal van hire company:cial waste is usually always the better option. But like everything, it depends on who you hire to do it. For the most part though, these are the benefits you should expect to get from a rubbish removal van hire company:

Flexible collections.

If you choose the right collection service you can simply book a rubbish removal for the date and time you want. Depending on the service, you could potentially get a same day collection of your waste so you can get it cleared quicker. Compare that to hiring a skip when you’re often left waiting a few weeks for a skip to be available for delivery (again, depending who you choose).

And then once it’s full you have to wait for the driver to come and collect it. This can leave you with an unsightly rubbish filled skip outside your house for a long-time if the skip hire company is busy and behind on collections.

Not all skip hire companies will leave you waiting for your skip to be delivered or collected, but do your research.

Better pricing.

Most rubbish removal companies will give you a quote based on your specific project. Whether it’s by the size of the load for bulk waste or bag collections. Or you’ll get a quote based on the individual items you’re having collected. That’s unlike hiring a skip when you have to estimate the size of skip you need based on the waste you’ll have and then you simply pay for the skip size.

With a rubbish removal service, you know exactly what you’re paying for on the day, and if you do need to add additional rubbish you can simply pay for those extra items and have those removed as well.

Removal done for you.

This one really does depend on the company you use. But you should look to use a rubbish removal company that will actually come and remove the rubbish from your home or garden directly. Some collection services will expect you to move the rubbish to the curb on the day of collection. But the better ones (like us at LITTA) will collect your rubbish from wherever you leave it in your home or garden.

More ethical waste removal and disposal.

The fact is that a lot of household waste can be recycled today. But hiring a skip can greatly reduce the amount of waste that goes to a recycling centre depending which skip hire company you use. Rubbish removal services are far more likely to take your rubbish and junk to be recycled whenever possible, so you know it’s being dealt with ethically.

At LITTA for example, we have a current recycling rate of 93% of all the rubbish we collect - and that number is increasing every year.

Get all your rubbish collected.

One of the biggest downsides of hiring a skip, is that you can be severely limited on the type of items you can put in the skip because of the way those items need to be disposed of. Common items like batteries, electrical equipment and appliances, TVs and computer screens for example cannot be put in a skip. And neither can many items that you’d expect to get rid of during a renovation of a home or office.

Items like fridges, freezers and air conditioning units, paint cans, plasterboard, fluorescent tubes. None of these items can be put in a skip. If they’re found you’ll be charged extra and could even have the items returned to you. So not only would you have to hire a skip for some of your waste, but you’d have to arrange a separate collection for these restricted items - or dispose of them yourself - anyway.

A removal service on the other hand can remove all your household waste because most of it will be sent for recycling and specialist disposal anyway.

Using a skip hire service.

There are undoubtedly some challenges to using a skip hire service. But the fact is, with some planning, hiring a skip can be a really good option for your waste disposal. One of the biggest challenges is figuring out what size skip you’ll need so you don’t get caught short and need additional space, or end up paying for a bigger skip than you need. To give you an idea what size skips are available and which might be best suited for you,

here’s a quick size guide. Small 6 yard skip: Can hold about 15 household bins/ 50 standard sized bin bags Standard 8 yard skip:

Holds about 25 household bins/ 70 standard bin bags Large 12 yard skip:

Holds about 40 household bins/ 110 standard bin bags Extra large 16 yard skip:

Carries about 8 tonnes of rubbish. If you’re going to hire a skip, what we’d recommend is hiring the biggest sized skip you think you’ll need. Per yard it will work out cheaper to hire a larger skip, and it removes the chances that you run out of room and need to hire another one.

For example, hiring a 6 yard skip from us starts at £270 while an 8 yard skip is just £295.

So for the extra £25 you get more than 2㎥ of additional space - roughly 20 extra bins bags.

Not all skip hires are ‘landfill first.

While it’s true that many skip hire services will send most of your household rubbish to landfill, not everyone does. Our skip hire service conforms to our own high recycling standards along with current waste disposal legislation. This means we’re still able to recycle 93% of waste we collect from skips.

Additional costs to consider.

If you’ve got a private driveway to store your skip, then you’ll likely not face any additional charges, unless you overfill or put restricted items in your skip.

But, if you don’t have a private area to place your skip while it’s being used, you’ll need to get a permit for the period you have the skip.

How much your permit will cost depends on where you live and the individual local authority.

But in London they can be as much as £165 for a permit lasting between 7-14 days.

In some areas, the placement of skips on public paths or highways is prohibited completely.

This cost can increase if you end up needing the skip for longer than you thought, or if there are delays in collecting your skip after it’s full.

So be wary about this when hiring your skip. However, it can’t be stressed enough the importance of organising your permit. Failing to do so can result in fines of up to £1,000.

Rubbish removal van hire vs skip hire?

It depends on the project. The reality is, there are benefits to both using a rubbish removal service and a skip to removing your household, garden or commercial waste. Which is best for you will depend entirely on the type of project you’ve got and the amount of waste you’ll need removing. If it’s a major house renovation, it’s possible a skip hire might be better if it means you have a single space to put waste before it’s collected. On the other hand, if you’re refurbishing a home or garden and have a mix of items that includes appliances or equipment you can’t put in a skip, then a rubbish removal service would be better and more cost effective.

The best thing to do is to contact a specialist rubbish removal service and get advice on which would be best for you based on your needs.

Arrange your waste and rubbish collection with LITTA.

If you need rubbish and waste collected from your home or commercial space quickly, and want to ensure it’s disposed of ethically and in line with current legislation, then get in touch with us.

We offer a range of skip sizes for hire that we can deliver to you quickly. We can also advise on arranging your skip permit prior to the skip arriving.

Alternatively, if you want a rubbish removal van company, our network of 200 drivers are available to clear out your unwanted waste and bulk items directly from you.

Both our services guarantee that as much of your waste will be recycled and reused as possible.

Find out more or get in touch for a quote.