Skip Bin Hire vs Alternatives: Which is the Best?

Whether you’re moving house, building a new home or just clearing out overgrown gardens, you’re likely stuck with large amounts of rubbish you need to get rid of. There are many ways of disposing of large amounts of rubbish, but which is the best way?

The best way to get rid of large amounts of rubbish is to hire a skip bin. Hiring a skip bin is the most convenient way of removing rubbish, as the skip bin is delivered and removed from your home, the contents are sorted and recycled properly, saving you time overall.

Jims Skip Bins - skip of rubbish in backyard of property

But how does skip bin hire work, and what are your other options if you want a more proactive role in your waste removal? Fear not, we’ve got everything you need to know about skip bins and alternative waste removal methods right here.

What is Skip Bin Hire?

When you hire a skip bin, it is delivered to your specified location for the duration of the hire period. Once you have filled the skip bin, it’s collected by the hire company and removed from your property. Skip bins come in various sizes and waste types.

Skip bins are a very popular choice for rubbish removal in Australia, and are cost-effective for renovations, construction, or just removing unwanted goods from your home. There are many industries that use skip hire, including construction and demolition industry, manufacturing, hospitality, and many more sectors.  

Wondering what happens to skip bin waste after collection? Not only is skip hire convenient, but most skip bin waste is actually recycled. 

Skip bin hire companies like Jim’s Skip Bins will take your rubbish to one of their dedicated waste transfer facilities. From there, anything that can be recycled is set aside to be given a new life as a recycled object, and the rest is correctly disposed of. 

For those concerned about the environment, you’ll be happy to know that up to 90% of skip bin contents are recycled, making it an environmentally conscious way to get rid of your rubbish.

What Types of Skip Bins Are There? 

There are three main types of skip bins; marrel, hook and mobile. These bins differ in how they are moved, loaded and filled.

Find out more on the different types of skip bins.

Hook Skip Bins – Hook skip bins are the largest type of skip bin you’ll come across. The high walls and large size make them perfect for people wanting to remove large amounts of light waste from sites like homes being built. Typically these bins are only for commercial purposes as they require commercial hardstand when they are dragged along the concrete when lifting onto the truck.

Mobile Skip Bins – Mobile skip bins are the smallest type of skip bin you’ll see. In a trailer format, these bins are quick and easy to manoeuvre around your property and are ideal for transporting lighter loads like green waste.

Marrel Skip Bins – Marrel skip bins are the most common type of skip bin and are the ones you’ve most likely seen around. These bins have shorter walls made from reinforced steel, making them very easy to load and can support much heavier rubbish loads, like construction waste. These are made for residential driveways, with a smaller footprint and using a cantilever lifter to place the bin behind the truck, minimising any potential of damage.

Skip bins are also available for many types of waste, including construction waste, green waste, general household waste, and e-waste.

So what are the pros and cons of skip bin hire? 

Pros of Skip Bin Hire

The many benefits of skip bins include:

  • Cost-effectiveness
  • Contents are recycled at dedicated sorting facilities
  • Plenty of sizes for maximum convenience 
  • It can be delivered almost anywhere 
  • Suitable for a wide range of industries, both commercial and residential 

Cons of Skip Bin Hire

Some of the few negatives about skip bins are:

  • They aren’t easily portable once on your property 
  • Take up space while being filled 

Jims Skip Bins - local team loading skip bin onto truck

Skip Bin Hire vs Alternatives: How Do They Compare?

Rubbish removal services, rubbish trailers, garage sales and DIY tip runs are the main alternatives to skip bins. Read on to learn how these alternatives compare to skip bin hire. 

Rubbish Removal Services

Rubbish removal services involve a team of professionals coming and collecting your unwanted items such as appliances.

For a cost, you can have your rubbish collected and transported by a rubbish removal company. These companies typically charge per item – for instance, paying to remove a broken fridge or other unwanted appliance.  

Pros of a Rubbish Removal Services

The benefits of hiring a rubbish removal service include: 

  • Less manual handling of rubbish required  
  • Avoid having a skip bin on your property 

Cons of a Rubbish Removal Services

The main downsides to rubbish removal services include: 

  • Far less cost-effective than skip bin hire
  • Generally pay a cost per item or appliance 
  • Not suitable for construction waste or green waste 
  • Requires booking a set time for rubbish removal  

Rubbish Trailers

Rubbish trailers are significantly smaller than skip bins and are on wheels. A rubbish trailer company will drop off the trailer, give you time to fill it up, and then come and collect it for the contents to be disposed of.

Rubbish trailers or ‘trailer skips’ only fit a smaller amount of waste, and are far less cost-effective based on volume compared to skip bins. They are also far less sturdy. This means that rubbish trailers aren’t suitable for large volumes of waste, and they can’t handle heavy construction waste either. 

Rubbish trailer companies typically don’t have dedicated sorting facilities or the ability to process goods for recycling. This means far more of your waste will end up in landfill compared to skip hire. 

Pros of Rubbish Trailers

Some of the pros of rubbish trailers include: 

  • Easier to move around a property 

Cons of Rubbish Trailers

The negatives of rubbish trailers include: 

  • Value is poorer than skip bins 
  • Only come in smaller sizes 
  • Unable to handle heavy waste 
  • No guarantee any materials are recycled 

Do It Yourself Tip Run

One alternative to hiring a skip bin is to do a tip run yourself. A tip run involves hiring a ute or trailer, loading up your rubbish and driving out to your nearest tip and dumping the rubbish yourself.

Manually loading and transporting rubbish yourself quickly becomes a difficult and costly endeavour. The first step is to hire a ute or trailer so you can transport the rubbish to the tip, and you’ll need to pay for fuel costs. 

The next step is finding some gloves and masks then  loading up all of your rubbish. Depending on what you are getting rid of, you may need help getting it all loaded into your trailer or ute. It’s important to make sure you use  straps or ropes to ensure that none of the rubbish falls out of the back and causes an accident on the road as you deliver it to the tip.

Once you have arrived at the tip, waited in line and paid the tip fees, you can get to work dumping all the rubbish you just put into the ute or trailer. You may need many tip runs to get rid of all your waste, whereas skip bins can fit between two and twelve trailer-loads in a single bin. 

Pros of DIY Tip Run

The benefits of doing a tip run to get rid of your rubbish include:

  • Control how much you spend 
  • Choose the time frame

Con of DIY Tip Run

The many downsides of a tip run include:

  • High costs of hiring a vehicle or trailer 
  • Fuel costs to transport rubbish 
  • Physically demanding and can lead to injury 
  • Paying landfill fees on every load of rubbish 
  • Time-consuming and inconvenient 

Sell or Donate Unwanted Goods

If items are in usable condition, you can always sell or donate your unwanted and unused items. By selling or donating them, you can guarantee they are going to a home that will use them, and you can even make a little money off of them.

There are many ways of selling or donating unwanted goods. If you don’t mind people coming to your home, you can set up a garage sale in your front yard. After going through all the items you want gone and assigning individual prices, you can take a weekend to host your garage sale with people coming in, poking around and making offers on your items. However, chances are you’ll still need to get rid of many unsold items at the end of the day. 

Selling your items online is another way of getting rid of old items. If you don’t mind holding onto things until they eventually sell and are comfortable with people coming to your home to pick things up or are willing to go out and deliver or post them, selling items online is an option. Sites like Gumtree, eBay and Facebook Marketplace are popular for selling unwanted goods.

Like a garage sale, however, there’s no guarantee your goods will sell. If you have a broken appliance or construction waste, chances are even lower that someone will take it off your hands, even for free. 

Pros of Selling or Donating

The benefits of selling or donating your old items include:

  • You may make some money out of it
  • Your items will go on to help someone else 
  • You avoid removal fees 

Cons of Selling or Donating

There are some notable negatives of trying to sell or donate old items, such as:

  • Your items may not sell at all 
  • Your items may not be accepted by a charity 
  • Requires a lot of time and effort to do 
  • Garage sales require strangers knowing your address
  • You might be stuck with items for a long time 

What is the Best Rubbish Removal Option?

The best rubbish removal option is to hire a skip bin. Skip bins are available in many sizes, and suit a wide range of residential and commercial needs. Not only are they cost-effective, but you’ll know upfront what you’re going to pay, and most skip bin waste is recycled.

Jims Skip Bins - Loading a truck on residential property

Skip bins sizes range from two trailer-load mini skip bins through to twelve cubic metre bins. With so many different options, skip bin hire suits a wide range of projects and waste types, including general household rubbish, renovation, landscaping or green waste.

Of course, skip bins aren’t always perfect for everyone. If you’re downsizing your home and are getting rid of large amounts of toys and clothes, many charities in your area would be grateful for the donated goods. 

However, when it comes to genuine waste and rubbish or large unwanted goods, skip bin hire is the unbeatable choice. Skip hire makes rubbish removal as simple as filling your usual wheelie bin for collection, without transport or tip fees to worry about. 

In addition, the fact that skip hire companies have different skip bins for different types of waste helps ensure that your rubbish is going to the right place, and everything that can be recycled, is recycled. 

Find more information about recycling using skip bin hire.

If you’ve got rubbish and need it gone, your best bet is to contact the team at Jim’s Skip Bins. With a huge range of skip bin sizes, Jim’s Skip Bins can help you dispose of it responsibly.

What is the Cheapest Rubbish Removal Option?

On average, the cheapest rubbish removal option by volume is skip bin hire. There are many skip bin sizes to suit a wide range of needs. Skip bin hire is most cost-effective at scale and quotes cover many hidden fees, such as tip fees and transport costs.

Jims Skip bin - skip bin removal from local prison

While it will always depend on what rubbish you have and how much there is more often than not, hiring a skip bin is going to be the most cost-effective, especially for larger projects like renovations, construction, or major clear-outs.  

Find more information on the types of industries skip bins are suitable for.

Learn more about the costs of skip bin hire in the Jim’s Skip Bins price guide, or request a quote for your skip bin needs today.


Related Questions 

Why Are Skip Bins Called Skip Bins?

Skip bins get their name from the Old Norse word ‘skeppa’ or the Late Old English word ‘Sceppe’, both referring to open, often woven, baskets. These woven baskets used for storage and moving of rubbish evolved into a system using a horse and cart in what is now known as the waste removal industry. 

How Much is Skip Bin Hire in Australia?

Costs for skip bin hire depends on its size, contents and location, so it’s best to consult a skip bin price guide for price estimates or get a personalised quote.