What You Can't Put in a Skip (And Exactly Why)

Skip hire is generous about what you can throw in - but there are strict legal limits on hazardous waste, electrical items and anything that can contaminate a landfill. Putting banned items in your skip can result in refused collection, surcharges, and in serious cases a fine under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

Here's the full banned list across our UK depots, with the reason for each one.

Absolutely prohibited (never allowed in any skip)

Asbestos

Notifiable hazardous waste. Needs specialist double-bagging, specialist disposal and a licensed asbestos contractor. A single sheet of old asbestos cement in a mixed skip contaminates the entire load.

Fridges, freezers and air-con units

Refrigerants (HFCs, CFCs) are ozone-depleting gases regulated under the WEEE Directive. They must be degassed by a licensed operator before disposal. Your local council collects these for free; a specialist WEEE collector will do it for a small fee.

Tyres

Banned from landfill since 2006. Must go to a dedicated tyre-recycling facility. Most garages and tyre fitters will take them for £2-5 per tyre.

Paint tins (liquid paint)

Classified as hazardous waste unless fully dried out. Open tins of liquid paint can seep through the skip and contaminate the rest of the load. If your paint is completely dry (solid to the core), it can go in. Otherwise, your council tip will take tins separately.

Gas bottles and aerosols

Explosion risk during compaction at the transfer station. Return gas bottles to the supplier (Calor, BOC). Aerosols need to be pierced and emptied or taken to a civic amenity site.

Batteries (any size)

Car batteries contain lead and acid; lithium batteries can catch fire if crushed. Banned from general waste since 2009. Local councils and scrap metal yards accept them.

Fluorescent tubes and low-energy bulbs

Contain small amounts of mercury vapour. Hazardous waste under WEEE. Any local council recycling centre will take them.

Clinical and medical waste

Needles, syringes, contaminated dressings and any waste from medical treatment need specialist incineration. Your GP or pharmacist can advise on sharps disposal.

Oils, solvents, chemicals and fuels

Engine oil, petrol, diesel, white spirit, cleaning chemicals - all hazardous liquids need licensed disposal. Most councils run household hazardous waste collections.

Allowed separately, not in mixed skips

Plasterboard

When wet and mixed with biodegradable waste (food, garden, cardboard), plasterboard releases toxic hydrogen sulphide gas. UK landfill rules require it to be disposed of on its own. Some depots offer plasterboard-only skips - ask at booking.

Mattresses

Not strictly banned, but most councils now charge a mattress surcharge of £15-25 per mattress at the transfer station to cover manual separation. This gets passed on. Many mattress retailers collect for free when delivering a new one.

Upholstered furniture (sofas, armchairs)

Since January 2023, upholstered furniture containing persistent organic pollutants (POPs) - flame-retardant chemicals in the fabric - has to be sent for incineration rather than landfill. Most transfer stations now charge a small surcharge per item.

Fine in any skip

• General household waste, bin bags
• Garden waste (soil, turf, branches, leaves)
• Wood and timber (pallets, floorboards, doors, skirting)
• Rubble, bricks, tiles, concrete
• Metal (pipework, radiators, old guttering)
• Plastic, cardboard, packaging
• Kitchen and bathroom fittings (units, worktops, ceramic sinks)

What happens if banned items end up in your skip?

Our drivers give the load a visual check before collection. If something obvious is sticking out - a fridge, a few mattresses, asbestos cement - we'll flag it and either ask you to remove it, or add a surcharge for separate disposal. If the load is already on the lorry and the banned item is only found at the transfer station sort line, we'll invoice for the specialist disposal cost. It's always cheaper to keep prohibited items out in the first place.

If you're not sure about something, enter your postcode to reach your local depot - a quick phone call beats a surprise charge.