Disposal Options

There are many Disposal Options available. Not everything needs to go in a skip.

There are also ways to reuse many scrap materials.

Disposal methods

Skip

Convenient
Quite expensive (£160 for a 6 yard skip being common, although a discount may be available if you are only loading clean hardcore and top/sub soil)
Skips on roads often require a local authority permit (although now uncommon, some local authorities may also insist on night lighting for them)
Skips on private land are sometimes collected only after long delays, they use you as the storage depot
Non-level loads may be surcharged
Other people will fill your skip in many neighbourhoods

Prepaid Collectable Bag

Folded flat bags available from shops. Phone a number to have them collect when full.
Handy for small quantities, but too expensive for large loads
Binbags generally much a cheaper option.

Binbags

Some garbage will fit binbags, and this is often the cheapest option for small jobs.
Some large items (eg sofas) can be broken down for fun, just hand out assorted lethal weapons to the youngsters and bag up the remains the next day.
Use rubble bags for heavier items
Some LAs will have a limit on how many they will collect per property

Wheelie bin

Imagination and a power saw can make a surprising number of things fit

Local Tip

Sometimes using or hiring a car or van to take materials to the tip is a good option.
Many tips will exclude anything they think is a commercial vehicle.
May charge for users who do not have a residents permit
Household rubbish is sometimes rejected on the grounds it could possibly be from a business activity

Scrap Merchant

Metals
Make the best of copper scrap

Freecycle, Craigslist etc

Its sometimes surprising what people want and will collect.
More effective in town than country.

Charity

Local charities
charities exporting old tools to the 3rd world, eg Tools for Self Reliance

Fire

Wood
paper
Not plastic

Burial

A no-cost way to fill holes with non-toxic waste

Hardcore

Hard building materials can be used as hardcore.

Concrete aggregate

Several types of garbage can be used as concrete aggregate. Examples include bricks, blocks, tiles, ash, stone, sand, glass.
Bulky items like bricks best broken up first.

Papercrete

Paper, cement, sand, lime, fibres, brick pieces, clay, plaster, plasterboard, expanded polystyrene, straw, and water based paints can all be included in papercrete, which makes building blocks, mortar and insulation.
Making papercrete requires labour & equipment though.

Asbestos Removal Contractor

Possibly the most expensive method of disposing of asbestos yet devised. Some tips take asbestos, double bag it first.
Some skip hire firms will provide shrouded skips for low risk asbestos (e.g. asbestos cement) type products.

Blocks

Almost any non-expanding material can be put into the middle of concrete blocks to reduce cement use and dispose of it free.
Beware of differential thermal coefficients.

Composting

Gypsum, plasterboard, plaster, paper, cardboard & lime can be included in composting.

Bulky items need to be broken up first.

Shredding

Plant waste, wood without nails, plasterboard, cardboard & paper without colour printing can be shredded and disposed of in the garden.

Oil Tanks

Discussion of options

Hot water cylinder

Copper is worth a good bit as scrap
Occasionally cylinders are reused as preheat tanks