What can go in a skip?

Often, our team gets asked what can go in a skip – we have compiled a list of just some popular items that we cannot accept. Please note that this is not an exhaustive list – If you are unsure about any of the items you wish to dispose of, please do not hesitate to give our experienced waste team a call on 01506 411141 and they will be happy to assist you with any query.

– Asbestos (fibrous or cement bonded)
– Modern fibre cement bonded products (non-asbestos) that visually look like asbestos cement i.e. corrugated or flat sheets, piping etc.
– Hazardous Wastes.
-Clinical wastes or animal carcasses.
– Excrement.
– Toxic or corrosive wastes.
– Fluorescent light tubes or bulbs.
– Any liquids, including oils and paints (even in containers).
– Food wastes.
– Farmers silage wrap (plastic sheeting or netting).
– Fridges.
– Freezers.
– Vehicle batteries.

Will there be any extra costs?

We calculate the costs for our Waste Transfer Station to recycle each type of material that customers can put in their skips so that we can provide an accurate fixed price with no hidden or unexpected charges.

To do this, when booking a skip, we always ask what is going to be put in them. If your skip is for a mixture of wood, metals, soil, rubble, garden waste etc, then we are able to give a fixed price for your skip and this ensures that there are no extra charges or hidden surprises.

The majority of our customers such as householders, builders and businesses qualify for our fixed price skip hire.

On rare occasions, there are certain types of waste which are extremely difficult or not yet able to be recycled. The government charges a Landfill Tax which makes it extremely expensive to dispose of these types of waste.

We can supply skips for difficult to recycle materials, such as carpet, tyres, ceiling tiles, plasterboard etc. and price these based upon the weight of the materials to be removed.

If you are unsure, please do not hesitate to contact our office and we will gladly help clarify.

You can find out more about the Landfill Tax, here.

What happens to my waste?

Our main Waste Recycling centre is based in Livingston, West Lothian and has a full SEPA Waste Management Licence. Additionally, our Waste Carriers Licence to allow our vehicles to transport the waste for recycling.

Our processes are relatively simple. We deliver the size of skip that you request and once it’s full if you contact our office.

We then send one of our drivers to collect it again. The driver collects the full skip and safely returns to our Waste Recycling Centre in Livingston.

Here, the waste is tipped in accordance with our accredited ISO:9001 and ISO:14001 procedures.

All waste in our skips returns to our own Waste Recycling centre in Livingston. Once there, our calibrated weighbridge records the weights, ensuring accurate record keeping and out turn reports.

Our process at Buchanan’s

Once at our Waste Recycling centre, our vehicles follow our one way system. The skips are tipped and the waste is put through a number of different processes to segregate and remove as much as possible for further recycling. We have a range of state of the art machines which ensures maximum efficiency. Our current diversion from landfill rate is an impressive 98.6%.

By segregating and further recycling as much of your waste as possible, meaning our prices as low as possible. This also ensures that we minimize the impact upon the environment.

Scrap Metal – Metal is high in demand all over the world, and many skip hire companies contribute to supplying this. We send off our metal to an approved scrap yard where it can be sorted and transported to China or India to be reused!

Garden Waste – Our waste gets sent to a specialist facility to be repurposed as compost.

Building materials – Some core materials such as bricks, sand and stone can be reused, it’s important for us to recycle this and reuse as aggregates. They are primarily used for the construction of foundations, roads etc.

Items that cannot be recycled – If we cannot recycle the waste, then it will go to landfill, however we try to avoid this, due to the negative impacts that 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.

Recycled Aggregates

Instead of being made from virgin materials from quarries, they are made from left over materials from construction sites. We deal with a lot of construction waste coming back to our waste transfer station in skips. After the materials are sorted at our waste transfer station in Deans, Livingston, they are transferred to our own Zero Waste Scotland approved aggregate recycling centre.

This allows us to produce quality recycled aggregates for sale. We follow a series of crushing, screening and inspecting of our aggregates. Our main products are Recycled Type 1, 4 millimetre Sand and 6F5. Due to this process, we are able to offer considerable savings on these products when compared to new aggregates.

The importance of ethical waste disposal

With so much focus on recycling and being more environmentally friendly, businesses — and the general public — are taking greater responsibility for the ethical disposal of their waste. The idea of ‘zero to landfill’ is now more realistic than ever; people are more keenly aware of the dangers of relying on landfill sites. Not only is the UK running out of dedicated landfill space, but many of the items sent to landfill, tragically, can be recycled.

By disposing of waste in a more ethical way, we can safeguard the environment. Not just our local environment, but our shared, global environment. When materials are left to decompose in landfill site, they can contribute to ground pollution as well as the release of harmful emissions. 

If you ensure that your waste is recycled properly, you also mitigate the energy demands which come with creating brand new products. Take aluminium, for instance. The energy it takes to create aluminium products is much higher than the energy taken to process, recycle and reuse the material. By taking a more considered, ethical view of waste management, we help our planet, which should be a top priority for us all. 

Choosing the right skip hire company

When choosing a skip company, many are focused more on hire rates rather than disposal methods. But by choosing a skip company which takes responsibility for recycling collected waste themselves, you can be confident that you are helping the environment rather than adding to the growing landfill piles.

At Buchanan Skip Hire, we operate our own waste transfer and recycling station, meaning we take complete control over the disposal of all the waste which enters our site. We oversee every stage of the recycling process, so if something can be reused, we make sure it can be. Not only that, but we also offer competitive skip hire rates with a prompt service from a professional team.