The Lockdown’s Effect On Skip Hire
Early in January 2021, Prime Minister Boris Johnson addressed the nation to announce nationwide lockdowns anew. The reinstatement was in response to the new strain of COVID-19 exerting pressure on the NHS.
Dubbed “lockdown 3.0”, a new set of policies was set in place by parliament. These measures included the closure of numerous businesses to curb the spread of the virus. The list of businesses that were allowed to remain open included those that rendered essential services. The rest were deemed “inessential”, and were therefore required to close down.
No doubt, the nationwide lockdowns in 2020 have had a severe impact on numerous businesses. With countless recreational companies out of operation, for the time being, more homeowners have more time to divert their attention to home improvement.
Home improvement comes with the need for a proper waste collection service. This is why the demand for skip hires has skyrocketed. Whether it is for home improvement or your other waste collection needs, there is no better time than now to hire a skip.
With The Lockdown In Place, Is Now The Best Time To Hire A Skip?
It is a well-agreed fact that a skip hire is an eco-friendly, cost-effective waste collection service. The question is whether or not it is a service still available to DIY homeowners during these trying times.
According to the new restrictions announced last January 4, 2021, establishments that render essential services may remain open, but under certain conditions. On the other hand, these are some establishments deemed to provide “non-essential services”.
- hospitality venues
- clothing retail
- tobacco shops
Luckily, essential waste disposal services can remain open in the United Kingdom. Due to the restrictions in movement, waste collection is a necessity for every household. With more people staying in their homes, the number of dry recyclables and filled-up black bags can only increase rapidly.
In short, it is possible to find a skip hire, and now would be the best time to hire one.
How Can Lockdown 3.0 Affect The Waste Collection Service?
The current lockdown policies require people to remain in their homes. The only times they may leave their residences is to access essential services like food, healthcare, and pet care.
This means that with these restrictions, a vast majority of people will spend most of their time indoors. Indoors for extended periods of the day, more people will be left with more time to do many things like conduct renovations on their homes.
Right away, the need for an essential waste collection service goes up. With spending on non-essential services like travel reduced, more capital is freed up for a skip hire or a household waste recycling centre.
Since April 2020, the utilities sector underwhich skip hire companies belong have managed to sustain a steady inflow of clients. For the most part, these clients have turned to gardening and DIY renovation projects to break the monotony of being kept indoors.
As per the British Prime Minister’s announcement, people are to again experience a life indoors. As with 2020, the demand for ways to recycle or dispose of waste will continue to climb at a commensurate rate.
As a result, lockdown 3.0 can and probably will bring about a rise in skip hire demand and pricing.
What Are The Best Options As Regards Waste Collection Services
Now that the need for a reliable, affordable, and accessible waste collection service has been established, you may want to look into what some of your options are.
Completing a DIY home renovation project means that a vast majority of your waste might be dry. For this reason, the options here will be for either recycling or dry waste collection.
Landfill
Of course, the easiest way to dispose of large quantities of rubbish is by going to a landfill. It is also the most flexible in terms of what you may be able to dispose. When you choose to dispose of rubbish here, you may dispose both dry waste from your DIY project or refuse.
It is also quite convenient to dispose of rubbish in a landfill since it requires no more than a simple drive-and-drop approach. Often, landfills are places where people can leave their garbage and forget it, despite the unsustainability of the practice.
In the UK alone, there are approximately 500 landfill sites. Most of these sites are either in England or Scotland. This may seem like a lot of potential areas for waste collection. However, it has been predicted that landfill capacity will be exceeded sometime in 2022.
In addition, people may not always be able to drive to landfill sites with the current lockdown restrictions.
Hence, landfills may be convenient but they do come with some drawbacks.
Incineration
Often, a home renovation project produces waste in the form of wood, plastic, ceramics, and pipings (steel or PVC). For these types of waste, waste collection services may either drop them off at landfills or opt to burn them. In fact, at least 5% of all household waste in the UK is disposed by incineration.
Incineration has always been seen as the space-efficient way of disposing garbage. Currently, the UK is home to more than 90 waste incinerators that burn waste. Despite being space-friendly, incineration is not the most flexible. At the time of writing, the incineration of waste with traces of metal or petroleum is prohibited by law.
There are also restrictions in place for incinerating plastic whether it is your own or someone else’s. Also, taking waste to an incinerator may not be an option.
Why Choose A Skip Hire?
Choosing a skip hire company though Skipsearch as your primary waste collection service can benefit you in a number of ways:
A Skip Allows You To Dispose Many Types Of Waste
Home renovation inevitably leads to ceramic, wood, and concrete waste. Waste from a home improvement project may also be in the form of rubble. A skip is an ideal waste collection method for these materials especially when the weight exceeds the amount you can drive to the local landfil yourself.
Other things you can put in a skip are:
- Furniture
- Cardboard
- Paper
- Bricks
- Tiling
- Stones
- Clay
There Are Likely To Be Local Skip Hires Near You
In the UK, skips can be hired in nearly every major region. In the West Midlands alone, there are an estimated 454 skip hires. More than 200 skip hire companies are in the Southern parts of the country.
These companies will be more than happy to rent out their skips for you DIY during lockdown.
No Transport Undertaking
A skip hire company takes care of any transport undertaking. This means that you need not drive to a landfill, which may be difficult due to the current Coronavirus lockdown.
Hire A Skip, Save the Environment
Hardly can waste disposal be a way to save the Earth. You can contribute positively to the environment by hiring a skip for you home improvement waste collection.
Companies that rent out skips ordinarily need to pay a 90-pound landfill tax for every ton of rubbish it disposes. Many of these companies try to save money, so most would find ways to segregate and minimize the amount of garbage they dispose.
For this reason, a company may actually dispose a lower amount of garbage, with the remainder either sent to be recycled or composted. This can reduce the negative environmental impact brought by most other waste collection services.
What Would Be The Best And Cheapest Skip Sizes For Home Improvement?
The prices of skips generally depend on their size.
For small-scale projects like re-tiling and re-piping, you can hire either a 2-yard skip or one that 4 yards. A 2-yard skip may cost about £120, and a 4-yard skip may cost £20 more.
If you are renovating an entire room like your bathroom or kitchen, a larger skip may be advisable. You might need one that is 6 yards. These can cost you about £160.
A DIY project involving an entire floor or shop is bound to produce a large amount of rubbish. A medium skip for such a renovation project is 8 yards, costing roughly £220. A skip that is 12 yards carries 300-pound price tag and might be preferable if you are renovating your whole flat, office, or house.
There are much larger-sized skips, often for large volumes of rubble and aggregates. The available sizes are:
- 20 yards: £350
- 40 yards: £450, usually for much larger construction projects like buildings
As you can see, larger skips cost more. However, chances are high that your home improvement project might require a small or medium skip. Another thing to consider is the period of time you intend to rent a skip.
A sound piece of decision-making would be to rent a skip for a short time. Just be sure you can dispose of all of your waste during that time.
