Hiring a rubble skip: can anything go in it?

Rubble bin, rubble skip, builder's skip, skip for stone materials… it can all be rather confusing. In everyday speech, the term rubble skip is often used as a synonym for a construction waste skip, but it's actually short for rubble skip. And that's a skip intended specifically for clean rubble, in other words only stone materials such as (reinforced) concrete, bricks, garden tiles etc. This can sometimes cause problems. Make sure it doesn't happen to you.

Why is it important to distinguish between a rubble bin and a builder's skip (construction waste skip)? A rubble bin is a lot cheaper than a construction waste skip, and there's a reason for that. Rubble is easy to process and doesn't need sorting. If you order a rubble skip and throw other waste types into it, you'll get a hefty additional charge. The rubble skip is then treated as one for construction waste and the difference between a rubble skip 6m3 and a 6 m³ construction waste skip can easily be a few hundred euros. Naturally, you'll want to avoid that. That's why it's good to know exactly what you're ordering and what you can use it for.

Of course, in conversation it doesn't really matter whether you say rubble bin, builder's skip or any of the many other names for waste skips, as long as you both know what you mean. But if you're going to order a skip, it's important to be clear about the type of waste that will go in it. Otherwise you risk extra costs and delays.

Are you about to start a renovation, some gardening or another job that produces waste? Then think carefully about what kind of waste you expect to have. Is it mainly rubble from stone materials? Then you need a rubble skip, or rubble bin as it's often called. But if you also have other waste, such as wood, metal or plastic, you're better off choosing a construction waste skip. If you throw anything other than stone materials into a rubble bin, you could get a hefty additional charge, even if it's only a small amount. For example, if there's a plastic bucket among the stones, it has to be picked out. Because the waste processor needs to be sure there's no other waste in the skip, the whole skip has to be sorted, and that's a significant cost. So also try to stop others from dumping waste in your skip.