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What Happens to Waste When It’s Put in a Skip?

By 25 June 2019October 13th, 2022No Comments
skip on driveway filled with waste

What Happens to Waste When It’s Put in a Skip?

Hiring a skip enables you to get rid of household waste and saves you multiple trips to the tip. However, many people don’t know what happens to their waste once it’s placed in a skip. At reliable skip hire we handle all waste materials under landfill policies and council guidelines. Here’s the journey your waste goes on.

The Sorting Process

The first step is to sort through the rubbish and remove any large items. This makes it easier for skip hire companies to determine which items are recyclable and to ensure there are no hazardous materials in the skip. Every skip hire company has strict guidelines about what you can put in a skip, and materials such as medical waste and plasterboard. Putting these items in your skip makes the company’s job harder and can cause harm to individuals.

After the sorting process, the rubbish goes onto loading bays, and prepared for treatment. This can involve compacting, shredding and screening. Certain materials are transported to other locations depending on their value.

Items of Value

Sometimes the things you dispose of will end up in a landfill, but any responsible skip hire company will ensure that items of value can be re-used and sent to the appropriate facility.

Building Materials

Some core materials such as bricks, glass and concrete can sub-materials. This saves money and further waste, so it’s important skip hire companies recycle this waste.

Electrical Goods

Some electrical goods are not recyclable, but old computers, appliances, CD/DVD players and many more items can be. You can find a complete list of recyclable electrical items here.

Scrap Metal

Scrap metal is in high demand on all corners of the globe, and many skip companies contribute to supplying materials to other countries. Recycled material can go to China or India, and it some cases it’s used for building projects.

Garden Waste

There are many gardening projects which require compost. Many companies send garden waste to specialist facilities that turn it into compost.

Items That Are Not Recyclable

If any waste cannot be recycled, then it will go to a landfill or is incinerated. However, most skip companies try to avoid this, due to the negative impacts landfills have on the environment.

In the past, there were no requirements for companies to recycle waste materials, but changes to the UK and EU legislation mean skip hire companies need to dispose of waste in environmentally friendly ways. One of the biggest problems landfills pose, is the time materials take to decompose. Paper takes just weeks to, but some materials can be present for millions of years.

A big concern of government officials and activists is the lack of space we have to incorporate more landfills. This is why it’s vital to recycle as much waste as possible and ensure any reusable items go to the right place. Some items cannot be placed in a skip and are restricted waste types – be sure which types of waste you are planning to use a skip for before you order.

How do we handle your waste removal?

Reliable Skip Hire ensures we deal with all waste materials according to the new guidelines and are proud of the amount of waste we recycle each year. The journey of your skip waste depends on the company disposing, so make sure you know your skip hires company has an ethically focused policy.