When hiring a skip, one extremely important aspect to consider and determine is whether you need to get a skip permit. However, getting to grips with skip permits, licenses, and legislation can feel like a daunting task if you are not familiar with the waste removal industry.
However, it doesn’t have to be as complicated as it sounds – Sheridan Skips is on hand to assist you throughout every step of the waste removal process.
Skip Permits – What Are They and Do I Need One?
According to The Highways Act 1980, skips cannot be placed on a public highway without permission from Highway Network Management. In giving their permission, the Highway Authority will ensure that all skips are placed safely, posing no danger to traffic and pedestrians travelling around it. Thus, if you wish to keep a skip on a public road, it is a legal requirement for you to apply for and retain a skip permit.
You won’t require a skip permit if you are keep your skip on private roads, driveways, or any other private property. When it comes to un-adopted roads it’s always best to double-check, even though these roads do not have to be maintained by the Highway Authority.
All applications are directed to the local governing authority, which is the local city or county council.
Before applying for a skip permit, consider the following key points to increase your chances of the permit being successful:
The skip will not be placed on double-yellow lines
No utility access points should be blocked or covered
If drives will be blocked, you should have written permission from the property owners
Whether the skip meets the necessary criteria to be left overnight unattended
Once receiving your application, the authority will consider a variety of factors, including:
How wide the road is and how safe it would be to place the skip on said road
How busy the road is and whether the skip may cause a significant obstruction, adding to the traffic
How close the skip will be to the property
Any dangers that the skip may cause
Cross-checking against scheduled road maintenance to ensure that no roadworks will coincide with the duration the skip is placed on the road
Permission may be granted unconditionally, or it may be subject to specified terms and conditions, such as:
Location details – it should not block the pavement, any crossroads or junctions, access to property, or too much of the road, and should not reduce visibility for drivers.
The maximum size of the skip allowed onsite – typically an 8-yard builder’s skip, which is the most common skip used for domestic properties.
How to ensure the skip is visible – skips must be visible to drivers and pedestrians even in the dark.
The disposal of the contents – the contents of the skip should be disposed of safely and appropriately.
How many days on the highway the skip is allowed to stay – skips must be removed on or before the date of the permit’s expiry.
Additional terms and conditions may apply, depending on the individual circumstances of your situation.
The price and conditions of the application vary from council to council. For example, in Manchester companies must provide insurance details that prove possession of public liability insurance of at least £10 million, plus a certified waste carrier license, and pay £128 upfront. The permit is then issued by Highway Network Management – you can contact Highways with any complaints or questions about applications and permits.
What is Covered by Your Skip Permit?
As a skip permit holder, you will be entitled to keep your skip on the road outside your property for the agreed term, allowing you to fill it to the brim with the items you wish to dispose of.
However, a skip permit does not just pertain to the location of the skip – in order to be granted a license, the skip company will be required to prove they hold a waste carrier license. This means that, once you are done with the skip, you can then remove it from the road and be rest assured that the items in your skip will be disposed of effectively.
In addition to this, your neighbours or passers-by are well within their rights to report a skip that they think might be unlicensed, either by calling the skip company directly or by reporting it to the local council or government over the phone or via a feedback form platform. If the skip gets reported, then enforcement officers will be dispatched to investigate the matter.
As skip permits are a way to ensure public safety is maintained, being caught using a skip without a license may result in a hefty fine. The same applies if you are caught breaking any of the terms and conditions of your permit. In some cases, this can cause the permit to be rescinded effective immediately.
Fines for unlicensed skips are most typically issued to the skip company that is named on the side of the skip. However, in some cases, it is the requirement of the council that the customer organises the permit. In these cases, the skip hire company can pass the fine down to the customer.
Thus, it is good practice to always check that a valid permit is in place for your skip, whether it was your requirement to acquire it or not. This will ensure that neither you nor the hire company will be fined by the Highways Authority or your local council.
If you are completely new to skip permits, and you think you may have been using a skip that you should have got licensed, don’t panic. If you simply forgot or didn’t know, apply for a skip permit immediately.
You will receive a monetary penalty, plus the upfront cost to backdate the skip permit to when you first placed it on the street; however, this will be a lot less hefty than the fine you will receive if you are caught without a license.
This does not just refer to skips – you still need a skip license for other waste removal containers, such as a skip bag or a Hippo bag, if they are to be located on a public highway. It is also worth noting that these bags come with additional terms and conditions relating to the waste that can be disposed of in them, prohibiting certain hazardous items and heavy objects.
Another instance where you might not realise you need a skip permit is if you opt for a one load service, where the skip arrives and leaves within a day. Even if the skip is only on the public highway for a single day, it can still pose a danger to the public, and thus you will still be legally required to purchase a skip permit.
Frequently Asked Skip Permit Questions
Applying for a skip permit for the first time doesn’t always have to be a daunting task. To assist you in your journey, our experts have collated and answered some of our most frequently asked questions about skip permits.
How long does a skip permit last?
The license period of a skip permit depends on two factors – how long you need the skip license for, and how long the council are willing to grant it for. This means that a skip permit can significantly vary from anything between 1 week to 28 days, depending on the situation.
If you require the skip for longer than this, you may be able to contact the council in advance to discuss a longer-term solution. Otherwise, permits can be extended for an additional fee. You can find more information about this below.
The term as to which the permit is granted should be stuck to at all time, as if you exceed the duration of the skip permit without notifying the relevant council or applying for an extension, then you will face the risk of a fine or the permit being revoked.
Where do I get a skip permit from?
A skip permit should be obtained from the relevant local council – that is, the legislative authority where the skip is to be situated, and thus the owner of the public road. In some cases, it is the responsibility of skip companies, or your chosen skip hire business, to obtain the license. In others, filling out the application form is up to the property owner to apply for skip licenses and permits.
The license fee of a skip permit varies from council to council. Some municipalities may charge a set price per skip, whereas others may charge per skip, per week. The license cost might also take into account other fees for skips, such as single parking bay suspension fees, comprehensive parking suspension fees, or a parking permit when the skip is to be placed in a controlled parking zone, in accordance with the relevant council safety restrictions.
In these cases, you may have to apply separately for a parking suspension permit from the council’s parking services team. Though this will not directly affect the cost of skip permits themselves, this can increase the overall fees for skips on the whole.
What happens if I forget to get a skip permit?
If you forget to get a skip permit, and thus have possession of an unlicensed skip, you can receive a monetary fine, plus the cost to backdate the permit to the time you started using it. It is up to the issuing council in respect to how much this fine might be.
Can I renew my skip permit?
If you have a valid skip license that is about to expire, you can pay an additional fee to renew your permit for up to another 28 days, depending on the highway authority. If it has already expired, you will need to apply for a new permit as soon as possible to avoid incurring any fines.
Can someone else complain about my skip permit?
Members of the public might contact highway network management to make a complaint if you are violating the terms and conditions of your permit. These conditions will be stipulated by your local council when issuing your permit.
Terms and conditions can include the need for safety lights, reflective markings, traffic cones, contact details of the skip company, and that the skip is not blocking the pavement. If these terms are violated, you can be fined up to £1,000.
Can my skip permit be revoked?
Your permit can be revoked if you fail to comply with the terms and conditions of your skip license, such as location, dimensions, visibility, lighting, or not using a suitable rubbish clearance service. Even if it is not revoked, you may incur a hefty fine instead.
No – the skip permit is for your skip only, from the named skip hire company, situated in the approved location, for the specified amount of time.
Obtain your Manchester Skip Permit
Still have questions you haven’t found the answer for? Looking for skip hire without having to worry about organising permits yourself? Sheridan Skips can assist you through every step of the way.
For many, the COVID-19 pandemic has been an opportunity to sort out home improvement projects for which they had previously lacked the time. And, of course, the downside of this is finding suitable disposal for the large amounts of waste that projects like these generate; however, in Manchester and the surrounding areas like Oldham and Trafford, you can easily book a skip online to prepare for your next spring clean or renovation project.
Hiring a Skip for Bulky Items
The Cambridge Dictionary defines spring cleaning as cleaning “all of a place, especially your house, very well, including parts you do not often clean”. To spring clean can also simply mean “to organise something, getting rid of the things you do not need”.
Unfortunately, though, some objects up for disposal can pose the problem of finding adequate removal. For example, while paper waste like newspaper, cardboard and paper packaging is unlikely to be overly arduous to handle, your heart may understandably sink if, during your annual spring clean, you decide it’s finally time to get rid of a sofa or chair that is damaged beyond repair. How are you supposed to get rid of that?
Plenty of other possibilities abound. Perhaps a son or daughter has recently moved out of the home, leaving behind a bed and bedside table you no longer have a practical use for. Alternatively, your microwave or vacuum cleaner might have permanently broken – leading you to buy a new one whilst remaining stumped about how to dispose of the old one, which you might not be able to sell.
The situation could be even worse if you have accumulated a wide range of waste as a result of undertaking DIY work in your home. You could currently have surplus plasterboard, bricks, mortar and glass strewn about various rooms.
In the interest of public safety, including that of traffic and pedestrians, the Highways Act 1980 requires homeowners to have a skip licence in place before arranging for a skip to be positioned on a public road. Fortunately, we have prepared a detailed guide to how this licence can be obtained.
Even if a skip permit is granted, you would only be able to use it for the specific skip you are hiring and exactly where and when the applicant has said they seek to place it. However, if the permit application succeeds, you would be able to start filling your skip to the brim.
What could you fill it with? We have already mentioned quite a few examples – but others include doors, fridge freezers, cookers and mattresses at an additional charge. Rest assured that, whatever type of household waste you want to get rid of, we have a suitable size of skip available.
An Environmentally Friendly Way to Dispose of Waste
When people do resort to fly-tipping, it is often due to the perceived ‘hassle’ of finding a site that indeed has a licence to accept waste. However, fly-tipping is a short-sighted approach that comes at a huge cost to the planet.
For example, if the waste includes dangerous chemicals, these could contaminate the soil and, as a possible consequence, harm local wildlife. This nonchalant method of waste disposal can also inconvenience locals and even risk their health by attracting flies and pests.
Once we have retrieved the skip from your home, the container will be taken to a local waste transfer station so that staff there can closely examine the contents. Some of these could be recyclable – in which case, they will eventually be sent to a local recycling centre.
However, the skip could also potentially be found to contain hazardous materials, such as asbestos, batteries or medical waste. As it would be dangerous for materials like these to be left on a landfill site, our team will make sure they are delivered to a more appropriate place.
Household waste you would be able to transfer to the skip include furniture, plastic bottles, paper, cardboard and clothes. However, not all of your home’s waste could be from inside the building proper…
If you are particularly green-fingered, you might have been busy overhauling various parts of your garden – and generated a wide variety of garden waste in the process. Though garden debris comprises about 14% of the average household bin’s contents, you might not have realised that most types of garden waste are actually strong candidates for recycling.
Examples include grass, flowers, hedge cuttings, weeds and bark – any of which a specialist company would be able to turn into compost. This, in turn, could be used to nourish soil and so help plants to grow – a great way garden ‘waste’ can be seamlessly returned to the earth.
Save Time and Effort
You might be well aware of the importance of taking various eco-friendly measures but – understandably, given the fast pace of modern life – lack enough time to research everything you should do to reduce the strain your waste disposal methods place on the planet.
This is why, with our skip hire services, we always arrange for eligible materials to be responsibly recycled. We can also save more of your precious time – and help you to cut down on your carbon emissions – by preventing you from having to make multiple trips yourself to a tip.
Such repeated journeys could initially seem necessary if, say, you have pursued a major construction project at your home and amassed an awful lot of waste as a result. However, if renovation projects are a common thing at your property, we can help to significantly lower the average time it would take you to (responsibly) clear waste materials from your residence after the renovation work.
As we have previously mentioned, you could need a skip licence if you don’t have any particular private land on which the skip could be placed for as long as you need it. However, in many instances, obtaining this licence can be surprisingly straightforward.
The application will be sent to the local authority, who will assess it on the strength of various safety factors, such as how wide and busy the road is and therefore whether the skip could cause a major obstruction there. Also taken into account will be the skip’s proximity to the property.
You could be fined if you hire a skip for which a permit is not in place. Also, even once a skip permit has been granted, particular terms and conditions will apply to its usage – and our friendly team can easily guide you on these if any terms have left you confused.
Hire a Skip for Your Spring Clearout Today!
We offer a wide range of skip sizes – from four cubic yards, which can hold about 30-50 full bin bags, to 16 cubic yards, which are capable of accommodating as many as 170-200 bin bags full of household waste. If you are unsure which skip size would be best for your particular needs, please phone us on 0161 647 7668. When you feel ready, you can click here to book a skip online.
If you have a long history of overseeing refurbishment, remodeling and renovation projects, you are probably all too familiar with the arduous experience of taking repeated trips to the tip to offload the tonnes of waste generated as a result of property improvement work.
In your case, perhaps the work in question has been a domestic project, like fitting out a new kitchen or bathroom, or one of the commercial projects often appealing to businesses – such as repainting an office in new colours as part of a rebranding exercise.
At one point or another, though, you could find yourself with a dauntingly large amount of domestic or commercial waste that needs discarding. Simply dumping this waste on land not licensed to accept it would be a big no-no, as this would constitute the unlawful practice of fly-tipping.
Naturally, you need to find legal means of waste disposal – but taking your waste to a tip, otherwise known as a landfill site, can have a wide range of drawbacks in itself. Tips are so busy that you may need to wait in a long queue before you can even start manually loading and unloading your vehicle.
This loading and unloading can also be time-draining – especially if you have a large number of bulky items that need transferring. Depending on the amount of waste you have in total, you could also find yourself needing to make multiple trips even when all of this waste has come about due to just one building project.
Making multiple tip runs could also significantly increase your carbon emissions. That’s before you consider the further environmental damage you could inadvertently cause by using a landfill for the waste you might not have realised would actually be a strong candidate for recycling instead.
Fortunately, for both domestic and commercial customers, we provide skip hire in Manchester as well as surrounding areas like Bury, Tameside and Ashton-under-Lyne. While finding a solution for project waste is difficult, a skip can provide you with the best and easiest way to dispose of this material.
What Project Materials Can I Put in a Skip?
It could have eluded your notice just how efficient a skip hire service can prove for helping you to discard various types of waste. While not all materials would be suitable for a skip, a specialist skip hire company like Sheridan Skips can still advise you on what materials you should leave out – and help you with finding alternative ways to dispose of them.
The Builders’ Skips (Markings) Regulations 1984 govern what you legally can and can’t put in a skip. This law is in place to help prevent materials from being handled in a manner damaging to the environment – especially as certain waste is capable of emitting dangerous chemicals.
So, what items can you place in a skip? Good examples include many materials often routinely used in property improvement work, such as wood, tiles and plaster. We offer skips in which you could also load heavy building materials like rubble, stones, clay, bricks, metals and concrete.
Our friendly team can even help you with spring cleaning – as paper, cardboard, clothes and furniture could all also go into skips we are ready to supply. With a skip collection service, we can also handle large amounts of garden waste – for example, if landscaping work has just been completed in your garden and loose grass, weeds, flowers, bark and hedge cuttings now need removal.
Though garden debris comprises roughly 14% of the average household bin, most kinds of garden waste can actually be recycled. Once we have sorted through your skip and identified garden materials that would be eligible for composting, we can send these to a specialist company that would be able to create compost that is ideal for nourishing soil and helping plants to grow.
So, what items are you legally barred from putting in a skip? These items include animal waste, gas cylinders, batteries, paint, tyres, lighting fixtures, TVs and other, similar electrical devices. Also on the list is asbestos. When materials containing asbestos are disturbed or damaged, they release fibres that, when inhaled, can cause serious diseases.
What Skip Size Is Best for a Commercial Project?
We offer four different sizes of skips – and, if you are a landlord or property developer overseeing improvement work on a commercial property, you could understandably be eager to discern which of these sizes would be ‘just right’ for your needs.
After all, opting for the wrong size could require you to subsequently hire a new, more suitable skip, therefore costing you extra time and money – neither of which your business might have in particularly large supply. So, you should try your best to make the right choice the first time around.
You could find this size of skip particularly cost-effective for disposing of plasterboard, as this must not be placed in a skip with mixed waste. Instead, plasterboard has to be kept separate, such as in its own skip – but your particular project might not result in quite enough plasterboard wastage to justify you hiring one of our larger, and thus more expensive, sizes of skip just for it.
Nonetheless, you could find that your waste disposal needs are much more significant than what our smallest skips alone can meet. Often, businesses can be involved in multiple property developments and improvements at once – and this can see demand for waste collection services soar.
If your business is indeed occupied in this way, you could feel drawn towards our 8-yard skips, each of which can hold eight tonnes of bulky waste. You could even contemplate our 12-yard skips, which are each good for containing up to 12 tonnes of heavy waste, or 16-yard skips – any of which can hold as many as 170-200 full bin bags of waste.
If you are struggling to decide which of our skip sizes would best suit your particular commercial requirements, we would welcome you to give us a call on 0161 647 7668 for a chat about the issue. We can schedule regular skips for commercial projects underway in Manchester and surrounding areas.
Which Skip Size Should I Hire for a Domestic Renovation Project?
Various examples of home renovation projects abound. These include installing new kitchens and bathrooms, converting garages and lofts and even just a little redecorating, such as repainting a wall or applying new wallpaper to it. However, all of these projects can create various kinds of waste.
Exactly what kinds of waste they do create will be a major factor in which type of skip should be hired in the aftermath. Still, before choosing between our skip sizes, you should look into whether you could find new uses for at least some of the ‘waste’ your renovation work has left behind.
While skips are often used to get rid of such usable items as furniture, these can be relatively bulky and so call for much larger skips than, say, surplus pieces of wood, plastic or metal. So, consider whether you might be able to donate usable items to charity or just give them away.
Minimising the amount of your domestic waste in this way can also make it easier for you to utilise cheap skip hire – since, the smaller the skip, the less expensive it will likely be to hire. A skip measuring four cubic yards can suffice for many smaller home renovation projects, like bathroom refits – and is also our most popular skip size.
It’s worth heeding that you could also need a skip permit if the skip will need to be left on public land – rather than, say, a driveway or garden, if neither of which you own is quite large enough to accommodate the skip. Reassuringly, though, we have helped domestic clients with obtaining skip permits and are thoroughly familiar with the process.
This is just one reason why our professional team can help you to save time, as they can also arrange to retrieve a skip on the same day they initially provide it. Alternatively, they could turn up to collect the skip the following day, if this would be more convenient for you.
As we know that overflowing landfill sites exacerbate climate change, we endeavour to minimise how much of the waste we collect eventually ends up at these sites. We follow strict, eco-friendly protocols and procedures, which enable us to sort materials left in a skip and identify recyclable contents so that we can subsequently transport them to recycling centres.
It’s Easy to Utilise Skip Hire in Manchester and Nearby
With our skip hire solutions, we serve a wide range of locations – including not only Manchester but also such nearby areas as Oldham, Trafford, Ashton-under-Lyne and Droylsden. When you hire a skip from our professional service, you can anticipate being able to dispose of waste as and when necessary – whether you are enhancing a domestic or commercial property.
Over time, the appeal of a home can naturally fade due to natural wear and tear, as well as other instances of physical damage your home’s occupants or visitors could inadvertently inflict upon the property. Perhaps a wooden floor in your kitchen has become warped due to your kids having spilled drinks on it or paint has started peeling or cracking on some parts of your home’s walls?
Situations like these could call upon you to embark on a residential renovation project – which shouldn’t be confused with refurbishment work; however, often you might see the words ‘renovation’ and ‘refurbishment’ used seemingly interchangeably. While refurbishing is often about overhauling a space, renovating is usually more about restoring it to a good condition.
So, while – for example – some of your home’s existing roofing materials might have chipped or fallen away as a result of a treacherous storm, you might not strictly need to replace those materials with materials of a different style. If that roof had comprised, say, ceramic tiles, there might still be new ones available in the same style as your old ones.
Hence, a home renovation can – perhaps surprisingly – actually be more time consuming than a home refurbishment, as the former would likely require you to think more carefully about how the work would accommodate many of the building’s existing features and quirks. This could be especially true if the home is a period property with unique decor.
This certainly doesn’t bode well for the environment, as landfill sites contribute heavily to climate change. Therefore, you want to minimise how many of your waste materials end up there. You should also be careful where else you leave them – as, when hazardous waste is left in the wrong place, chemicals in this waste can potentially contaminate the soil and harm local wildlife.
One definite example of a ‘wrong place’ in this context would be land without a licence to accept waste. Dumping waste in this manner is known as ‘fly-tipping’, an illegal practice that, were you to engage in it in the process of home renovation waste clearance, could see you fined.
The bottom line is, if your home-renovating activities leave you with any unwanted waste, you should start researching local waste carriers who would be licensed to rid your home of these excess materials in a responsible and eco-friendly manner.
Our family-run business, Sheridan Skips, offers skip hire in Manchester and such surrounding areas as Trafford and Oldham. With our skip pickup service, we can help you to efficiently empty your home of various types of waste, which we can subsequently sort through so that eligible materials will be sent to a recycling centre, where they belong.
Why Hire a Skip When It Comes to Home Renovation Projects?
In scope, renovating a home is subtler than remodelling it, for example. Whereas remodelling entails changing the building’s structure or layout, renovating is more about revitalising what is already there, such as by repairing it or updating it to something more contemporary.
Renovating a kitchen, for example, could involve installing new light fixtures, updating outdated appliances and – for certain parts of the room that are beyond easy repair – replacing entire kitchen cupboards, windows, tiles and worktops.
Remodelling is more ambitious and, in a kitchen, could include installing a kitchen island or knocking down one or more of the room’s walls to make for an extended kitchen. All of these moves would change the room’s structure and layout and so constitute remodelling rather than renovating.
While all of this has (generally positive) implications for renovation costs, these can remain prohibitive – and not just in terms of money – if you fail to plan your renovation project carefully. Examples of DIY waste you could garner include unused tools, cans, brushes and materials – perhaps as a result of you having miscalculated exactly how many of each you needed.
Some types of materials and other waste items are bulkier than others, however – as you could find out for yourself if your renovation project turns out to need more extensive work than you had originally expected. You could need to strip out a particularly large kitchen unit or, in more extreme circumstances, arrange for entire walls to be demolished so that they can be fully replaced.
Certain kinds of construction waste, like whole bricks and blocks, you might easily be able to reuse yourself without needing to send them anywhere beyond your home’s boundaries. However, even when you recognise how the construction industry as a whole could repurpose some of your surplus materials, you might still need help with transferring them from your hands to tradespeople’s.
After all, as much as you might be aware of your environmental responsibilities, you might not know how you can make sure that as little of your home renovation waste as possible ends up in a tip. Besides, if you were to take your own car to a tip to dispose of waste, you may end up needing to make multiple journeys, in the process creating fuel emissions that even further damage the planet.
How to Manage Your Waste Correctly with a Professional Skip Provider
However much waste you might need to offload, we have a skip size to suit. While our 4-cubic-yard skips can hold the equivalent of about 30-50 full bin bags, this range increases to approximately 80-100 in the case of our 8-cubic-yard skips and roughly 100-120 for our 12-cubic-yard skips.
We can even accommodate the timeline of your home renovation project; with our same-day pickup and collection service, we are able to bring an empty skip to your property before returning later that day to collect this container.
Our service here includes placing the skip in a place where it won’t provoke objections from the local council. This place could be land belonging to your own private property, such as your driveway or perhaps a private road. However, if circumstances mean the skip would need to be left on a public highway instead, you should research whether you would first need to apply for a skip permit.
Usually, the skip hire firm itself would be responsible for obtaining the skip permit – or, as it can otherwise be called, a skip licence. However, if you live in Manchester or nearby and remain unsure whether you would need to apply for this licence instead, take heart that it’s easy to use the UK Government website to research which rules your particular local council stipulates.
In consulting with you, we can also make sure the timing of our return trip will work for you. That way, you will be able to fill the skip with home renovation waste in time for us to retrieve the now-full unit. So, once we do take this skip away, what will happen to it?
It’s also worth emphasising that we can handle the various types of waste that you might generate in the process of remodelling your home. So, if you will indeed be remodelling your home rather than refurbishing or renovating it, you could take comfort from how we are able to, on your request, swiftly take away such demolition waste as rubble.
Alternatively, you might want to undertake work in a commercial capacity, such as if you are a landlord or property developer and intend to let someone else live in a residential property from which you will nonetheless amass revenue. Fortunately, we are trained in processing commercial waste the local council might not be able to take off your hands.
Provided your home or workplace is in Manchester or any of the surrounding areas, like Stockport, Sale or Bury, our skips could help you to remove any kind of waste from the property. Our expertise even extends to collecting garden waste so that a new, eco-friendly purpose can be found for it. Please give us a call on 0161 647 7668to learn more about our skip hire solutions.
As landfill sites are a great contributor to climate change, you might not think that skip hire in Manchester is an eco-friendly solution to home renovation. However, with multiple benefits saving you money, time, energy, and emissions, let us take a closer look at how Sheridan Skips can be the eco-conscious choice for your next project.
The Importance of Eco-Friendly Solutions and Finding Ways to Reduce Carbon Footprint
Before we go any further, it is important to understand why finding eco-friendly solutions is essential in the modern world. So, let us take a look at why reducing our carbon footprint can benefit our lives.
Less Waste and Pollution
It is estimated that the UK produces around 222.2 million tonnes of waste in a year, with England racking up 84% of the total. If this isn’t biodegradable waste, then it can sit in landfill sites for decades. Even worse, if disposed of incorrectly, the waste that we produce can contribute to pollution.
Thus, if we want to protect our environment, it is important to find more eco-friendly solutions in our daily lives, such as biodegradable packaging, recycling, and so on in order to reduce waste and pollution.
Improve the Quality of Life
The main aim for being more environmentally friendly is to create a better world for us to live in. Greener choices have the potential to improve our air and quality of life not just now but for future generations.
Save Energy and Money
The manufacturing of and disposing of products requires energy, which pumps carbon emissions into the atmosphere. Not to mention, the cost of electricity, gas, petrol, and diesel can quickly add up to be quite expensive. Thus, making eco-friendly choices saves energy, money, and reduces our carbon footprint.
Overall, eco-friendly solutions and finding ways to reduce carbon footprint is crucial to preserving the planet and reducing the effects of climate change. As citizens of Earth, it is important for us all to do our part to become as carbon neutral as possible.
When you are undertaking a home renovation project, no matter how big or small, it is easy to underestimate the amount of waste that you might produce. Whether it’s building materials, garden waste, mixed waste, or heavier waste, you might feel limited in the scope of the DIY projects you undertake by the amount of space you have to spare.
However, as mentioned, there are various skip sizes to choose from with us that can hold every type of waste, making out skips a flexible solution for every building project. The wide range of skip sizes allows you to tailor your waste management solution to suit your needs, making it cost-effective and eco-friendly – the perfect solution for all domestic projects.
No Need to Do Multiple Tips Runs
If you are doing the renovation yourself, the day’s work can take it out of you. Even if you have hired the help of a professional, the renovation will have eaten into your time enough as it is, without having to frequently dispose of all your waste.
Skips are suitable for all types of materials – no matter how bulky they might be. When a bulky item doesn’t fit in your car, it is tempting to just leave it for the bin lorry to pick up and throw in the landfill. However, these bulky items might actually be suitable for recycling.
Thus, no matter how large your materials might be, everything that can be recycled will be recycled. Waste will be separated into categories before being disposed of in the most eco-friendly way it can be.
Clear More Space to Minimise Danger
Having a skip not only clears more room in the property for convenience, but it also minimises the risk of danger onsite. Leaving waste around, on-site or off, can be the cause of multiple accidents that can damage the environment, the property, and even yourself.
How to Manage Your Waste Correctly with a Reliable Skip Provider
Sheridan Skips deliver fantastic waste management solutions at competitive prices. Whether it is building waste, commercial waste, broken materials, or materials left over from construction projects, our experts will collect and dispose of your waste in the most appropriate and safe way possible.
Our experts are always on hand and willing to answer any questions you may have, offering valuable insight and advice for all your skip needs. You can also check out our blog, where we answer all your frequently asked questions, such as whether you need a council permit for your skip.
Skip Hire in Manchester Available for You
Sheridan Skips boasts a brilliant range of skips and services that can be perfectly tailored to develop the perfect solution for your home improvement project. Choose from 4, 8, 12, or 16-cubic-yard skip hire for an affordable waste management solution hire you can trust.
Here at Sheridan Skips, We Are Committed to Recycling
We are committed to protecting the communities throughout which we operate, as well as the wider world that we live in. For this reason, we place a huge emphasis on receding our carbon footprint and implementing eco-friendly waste management solutions. Not only are we a skip hire company, but we also know it is our duty to ensure we protect the environment (especially in the waste solutions industry) for future generations.
With our skip hire in Manchester services and company ethos, you can rest assured that we pay the utmost care in sorting your waste into appropriate categories, which will then be efficiently disposed of in the most environmentally conscious way possible. Any hazardous and complex waste will be disposed of safely, allowing us to maximise the amount of waste we can recycle. We will then dispose of all recyclable waste appropriately at local commercial and household waste recycling centres.
We are committed to recycling, implementing rigorous environmental and recycling policies that allow us to make the greener choice every time. With our services, you can lower your carbon footprint, reduce emissions, promote recycling, and protect the environment in which you live.
Get in Touch for More Information
For skip hire across Oldham, Trafford, Salford, and Greater Manchester, look no further than Sheridan Skips. Our skip services are second to none, providing a friendly service that is sure to deliver the most ideal solution for the job. Get in touch with us today for more information about any of our services, environmental policy, or expert advice.
Christmas is a time for joy and laughter, family and friends, eating and drinking, and celebrating another year around the sun. However, Christmas should also be a time for making more sustainable choices, helping to protect the environment that we live in.
Now more than ever, recycling is one simple way we can help the environment this Christmas. So, to help you make the eco-friendly choice this holiday, here is a comprehensive guide to recycling during Christmas.
How Much Rubbish Do We Make at Christmas?
There are five types of waste categories in the UK, all of which have different modes of disposal. These are organic waste, solid waste, liquid waste, hazardous waste, and recyclable waste. As you may imagine, hazardous waste is more common in manufacturing or non-domestic settings, so it is unlikely you will encounter such items over the holidays. However, households in the UK produce a surprising amount of the other four categories of rubbish every Christmas – let us take a look at some official Government statistics.
Organic Waste
Organic waste is foodstuffs and garden waste that can decompose over time. Over Christmas, households in the UK dispose of an enormous amount of food waste, typically disposing of it straight into the kitchen bin.
Though households do not typically produce a vast amount of liquid waste, this is another area where waste increases over the Christmas period. With custard and cream on our puddings, or maybe even some brandy butter, even liquid waste can significantly add up over the holidays.
Although extra waste over Christmas can be a bad thing for the environment, extra recycling isn’t always a bad thing, as it shows that more and more people are making healthy choices to properly dispose of recyclable materials.
Why Is Recycling Important?
With the additional waste produced over Christmas, it is more important than ever to ensure that your rubbish is recycled. To illustrate just how essential recycling can be, here are a few ways that recycling can help to reduce the impact of waste, both at Christmastime and all year round.
Reduces carbon emissions
Carbon dioxide emissions are a natural byproduct of many processes, manufacturing techniques, and actions in the modern world. However, taking cars off the road is not a sustainable or plausible way to reduce carbon emissions. Instead, recycling can cut carbon emissions in the UK by the equivalent of removing 5 million cars from the roads, which amounts to roughly 18 million tonnes of CO2.
Protects natural resources
To create new products, new materials must be mined, quarried, cut down, created, and processed. In doing so, we deplete the world of its natural resources in addition to churning out tonnes of CO2. By recycling plastic, glass, metal, and paper products, we protect the world’s natural resources, using recycled materials to create new products instead.
Saves energy
In order to create new products, of course, this also takes a lot of energy. However, using recycled materials to create said products on average uses significantly less energy than would be required to produce and manufacture it using raw materials. Thus, recycling can drastically reduce the amount of energy used in manufacturing.
Reduces the amount of waste in landfills
As rubbish in landfills decomposes or degrades – if it is capable of doing so, that is – this emits a massive amount of methane, which is another greenhouse gas. By recycling our rubbish, we reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfills, and thus reduce methane emissions.
One way to combat global warming
Overall, reducing CO2 and methane emissions, saving energy, and protecting the environment by recycling is one way that we as a society can contribute towards combating global warming.
What Can and Can’t I Recycle?
When it comes to disposing of your Christmas waste, it is important to check out your local council guidelines, council news, and recycling centre rules to see what you can and cannot recycle. If you recycle the wrong items, this can impact the efficiency of the recycling process over what will inevitably be a very busy time for all.
So, to assist you in your recycling commitments this Christmas, here are some of the most popular waste items at this time of year, with guidance as to whether they can be recycled, and how they should be disposed of.
Christmas Waste That IS Suitable for Recycling
Christmas tree lights
Fairy lights and other electrical items can be recycled at a household waste recycling centre that is a Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) designated site.
Christmas wrapping paper
Most recycling collections will accept wrapping paper, brown paper, and most grades of paper, so long as it does not contain foil. To check to see if you have recyclable wrapping paper, scrunch it up and see if it stays in a ball. If it does not return to being flat, it is recyclable. Remember to ensure that it is clean paper, with all tape removed. Check your local household recycling centre for additional information.
Cardboard packaging
When life is busy, there is no shame in online shopping for your Christmas presents. After they arrive, remember to recycle the brown cardboard boxes or tube the presents arrived in. Remember to remove all plastic, polystyrene, and stickers from the cardboard boxes for an efficient recycling process.
Christmas cards
Christmas cards and cardboard tags, so long as you take off any ribbon, glitter, bows, jewels, and so on. Simply rip that section off and pop the card in the recycling. You can also recycle the parts of an envelope that don’t have any glue or plastic windows.
Real Christmas trees
Christmas trees can be recycled into wood chippings that are perfect for children’s playgrounds, amongst a wide range of other applications. For bulky waste items such as a Christmas tree, consider skip hire in Manchester from Sheridan Skips, where we can offer you a variety of recycling collection dates to suit your needs.
Paper decorations
Paper chains and shredded paper are completely recyclable. You can also make paper decorations from recycled material such as office paper or paper towels.
Food and drink containers
Clean food tins, cardboard takeaway boxes, drinks bottles, and aluminium food trays are all recyclable, provided that they are completely clean of all food waste, and the items explicitly state they are recyclable on the packaging.
Other glass bottles and plastic bottles, such as milk bottles, shampoo bottles, and household cleaning product bottles, plus their bottle caps, can also be recycled once thoroughly cleaned, either in your household recycling bin or at bottle banks.
Christmas Waste That IS NOT Suitable for Recycling
Glass or plastic baubles
Baubles often contain an array of glitter and decorations, which unfortunately make them unsuitable for recycling. Both plastic baubles and glass baubles should be disposed of in the rubbish bin. With broken glass baubles, remember to wrap them before binning to reduce the risk of injury.
Tinsel
Tinsel is not suitable for recycling – dispose of it in your rubbish bin.
Present wrapping materials
Things such as sellotape, stickers, bows, ribbons, and so on, are not suitable for recycling, but the paper they decorate often is. These materials should be removed from wrapping paper before it is recycled.
Protective inserts
Before recycling any cardboard boxes, be sure to remove any polystyrene or plastic inserts, as these protective materials are not recyclable.
Plastic Christmas trees
Unlike their authentic counterparts, plastic Christmas trees are mostly not recyclable. To get rid of bulky waste items such as this, let us take care of it for you with our waste collection and skip hire in Manchester.
Broken cookware
We all have the occasional accident in the kitchen, and Christmas is no different, especially when you are cooking for so many people! However, broken cookware, such as coloured glass and Pyrex glass dishes, is unfortunately not suitable for recycling, even if you receive a specialist collection for glass recycling.
How to Create Less Waste at Christmas
As we have mentioned before, households in the UK have an increased amount of waste over the Christmas holidays. However, there are many simple but effective ways that you can make your Christmas more sustainable. From reusing household items to making easy swaps to eco-friendly alternatives, here are some ways you can ensure you create less waste at Christmas.
Use recycled wrapping paper
An easy eco-friendly swap this Christmas is to use recycled wrapping paper. Shabby chic is a timeless aesthetic, so get creative with old newspapers, magazines, and brown paper. Add on a vibrant ribbon and a brown paper tag to really make it pop.
For a more luxurious feel, opt for a roll of wrapping paper that is made from recycled material. Recycled wrapping paper is becoming more and more popular, so you will be able to find them in most retail stores. And don’t forget to recycle your paper after Christmas day to set the cycle in motion for next year.
Only buy what you need
Christmas is a time of indulgence – the time of the year we allow ourselves to eat extravagant foods and often larger portions! However, we are all guilty of buying things on impulse, often purchasing too much food than we actually need.
As an action against food waste, try to only buy what you need by making a list (and checking it twice). If you do end up with food leftover, consider donating it to a food bank. Most food banks will only accept certain items, though, so if you find yourself still holding on to food waste, ensure that the collection of food waste goes to a composting site, or you can compost it yourself in your back garden.
Upcycle
Many of the things that we buy can be used again and again – you just need to get a bit creative! Old ice cream tubs and biscuit tins are fantastic for storage, and empty plastic bottles can be reused to cool tap water in the fridge.
You can also turn jam jars, glass milk bottles, and small glass jars into beautiful table decorations with a helping hand from a tea light or a compact string of lights. Add a small wreath of holly around the outside and you have a gorgeous Christmas table centrepiece.
Make your own decorations
Ever wondered what you can do with old lightbulbs? How about spending a cosy winter morning transforming them into baubles with a simple lick of paint? Or, cut out the festive designs of last years’ cards for a Christmas bunting for your front room.
By using recycled material to create your own decorations, you cannot only reduce your waste this Christmas but also save yourself a bit of money.
When you choose our skip hire in Manchester services, you can rest assured that all of the items that can be recycled will be recycled. We operate extremely strict recycling protocols, carefully separating and treating your waste, allowing it to be disposed of or recycled with the utmost efficiency.
As a family-run business with over two decades of experience in the industry, we know just how important eco-friendly waste management can be in our communities. Whether you are a business or a property owner, we can speed up and reduce the stress of your rubbish disposal, all whilst helping you to hit environmental targets that benefit the local area.
With so much experience, we know exactly where all the recycling centres are in the area and have comprehensive knowledge of what each recycling centre can accept and in what condition. Due to this, we can discern the quickest and most carbon-efficient route to dispose of your waste, speeding up and assisting in the efficiency of the recycling process, without any extra hassle for yourselves.
If you have any questions about our recycling processes, or for more tips to reduce your waste this Christmas, just get in touch with Sheridan Skips today.
For services in Limeside, Whitefield, Prestwich, and throughout Manchester, get in touch with our customer service team. At Sheridan Skips, our experts are on hand to help at every turn, ensuring that you always receive the most professional, reliable, efficient, and competitively priced skip hire and waste management solution to suit your needs.
Despite calls for recycling to be at the forefront of COP26 discussions, such as those from The Global Recycling Foundation, it seems that very little of the discussion focused on waste despite its contribution to climate change and greenhouse gas emissions. So, we’ve rounded up any recent news about recycling and waste management off the back of the climate summit.
Of course, recycling should still be encouraged, but the issues need a much more effective solution. Whilst his remarks to the children attracted inevitable criticism, what was at the heart of Johnson’s message was a fair point – as he pointed out, cutting down on our use of plastic needs to be a main focus, and big corporations need to take the lead in stopping the first use of plastic. In other words, finding climate-friendly ways to sell and store products going to market is a must, but this responsibility lies with big businesses.
Attitudes towards waste, recycling, and climate change as a whole are shifting
In relation to this and waste more specifically, the UK is producing less food waste than it used to – from 2007 to 2018, this was down 15%. As for recycling rates, 54% of the UK population stated that they have avoided or minimised throwing away food when asked in March 2020. Whilst this could be a coincidence, it’s likely that these changing attitudes are due to increased coverage and awareness about climate impacts and the climate emergency.
Glasgow perfectly exemplifies the crisis that we’re facing and the need for effective waste management
Whilst collection rates, fly-tipping, and uplift charges in the city have all been listed as factors that are to blame for the scandal, the situation in Glasgow is representative of a global issue. Across the world, the lack of effective waste management in both developed and developing countries is one of the main reasons why waste generation is increasing at an alarming rate.
The fact that China and Thailand, amongst other nations, have banned waste imports – including electronic waste – has also caused tensions and altered the global dynamic. All these issues further highlight exactly why nations need to come together and work together, but has COP26 gone far enough? Given that recycling and rubbish management weren’t major topics at the summit, it’s clear that more needs to be done to even discuss these issues, let alone solve them.
Effective Waste Management With Sheridan Skips
With events like COP26, increased news coverage, and general awareness and observations, we know just how crucial effective waste management can be. Here at Sheridan Skips, we offer tailored solutions to individuals and businesses in a range of sectors and for a range of purposes in Greater Manchester. Whether you’re a homeowner doing a DIY project or a construction worker with demolition materials to dispose of, no matter your company or your project, we can assist you.
If you’re interested in Greater Manchester skip hire, our skips come in 4,8 and 12 cubic yards – just select the right option for your needs and our team can provide next-day delivery in most instances! With 25 years of experience, it’s fair to say that when you choose Sheridan Skips you’ll get exceptional customer service, expertise, and effective waste management and skip hire solutions.
Interested in our skip hire and waste management? Get in touch with us today
If reading this blog has got you thinking about waste management for your next upcoming project, then we’d love to hear from you and help you with your project. You can easily book a skip online using our easy booking form, or if you’d prefer to speak to a member of our team for further assistance or information, then just give us a call on 0161 647 7668. Alternatively, you can send an email to info@sheridanskips.co.uk.
Our diligent and careful approach to waste management ensures that skip waste is always taken care of in the most appropriate way. By implementing a rigorous recycling process, our expert team can guarantee that your domestic or commercial waste is safely and suitably disposed of. We work hard to provide bespoke solutions for construction projects and domestic projects offering a range of skips and professional services to efficiently remove waste from premises. At the forefront of our skip hire services is a strong focus on eco-friendly protocols. We are dedicated to protecting the community from harmful emissions, which is why we take recycling seriously.
Once your skip has been collected, it enters the sorting stage. Your skip will be transported to a local waste transfer station, whereby a dedicated team will sort and distribute the collated materials. This is a crucial part of the recycling process, as this is the stage that ranks and categorises the waste types to identify recyclable material. During this stage, a thorough examination will take place to determine whether or not there are hazardous items within the skip. The hazardous waste materials that cannot be disposed of in a tip include asbestos, gas cylinders, batteries and medical waste.
Once all of your waste is sectioned into its appropriate distribution category, our team will transport the materials to a local recycling centre. For complex waste that may require alternative means of disposal, our team will utilise their knowledge and expertise to correctly deliver materials to the right place.
Some of the waste categories that your materials will be sorted into include:
Garden Waste Collection
One of the most common items to be recycled is garden waste material. Garden debris makes up around 14% of the average household bin. Most types of garden waste are eligible for recycling. This includes items such as grass, bark, flowers, hedge cuttings and weeds. Once collected, garden materials can be transformed into compost by a specialist company. The compost created can then be used to add nourishment to the soil, helping plants grow.
Building Materials
Heavy waste produced on construction and building sites can be safely removed from the premises and recycled. Items including bricks, rubble, concrete and glass can be compressed to produce additional sub-base material for use on future projects.
This type of waste is common amongst commercial clients and is a highly valuable material to many countries across the globe. Scrap metal can be collected and distributed to areas that demand it.
