Archived on 6/5/2022

How do I get rid of a tiny amount of building waste?

BovillDan
12 Nov '17

We need to get rid of some old paint, tiles etc. that were left in the garden when we moved here. It’s about half a binful but I suspect the binmen would refuse to take our bin if they spotted it. I don’t think Lewisham accept trade waste at Landmann Way.

Is there anyone we can call up to take it away, or something? I could hire a Zipvan (£22) and take it to the tip in Bromley (£26) but it seems a lot of money for such a small amount.

Hollow
12 Nov '17

City of London will collect chemicals and paint for free (3 times a year).

https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/services/environment-and-planning/waste-and-recycling/household-waste-and-recycling/Pages/Hazardous-Waste.aspx

The other stuff find someone on Gumtree maybe or ask a neighbour if you can use their skip (maybe offer beer or money).

Brett
13 Nov '17

You’ll be amazed at what people will re-use in South London. We did a cellar clearout recently and put some stuff out ready for journey to tip and this included old paint. Hours later, some passers by asked if they could use it and sure enough they were picked up and used for a redecoration job. Must have been an eclectic colour scheme but they later told me were delighted with the results. :slight_smile:

Beige
21 May '19

@Rob here is a thread you might find useful.

"The City of London provides a hazardous household waste collection service to help you safely dispose of asbestos and boxed chemicals including paint.

If you want to arrange a collection or would like more information regarding this service please visit the City of London’s website or call them on 020 7332 3433."

I’d anyone has used it I’d be interested to hear if it worked out.

weepy
21 May '19

find a nearby skip … pop it in …

Beige
22 May '19

If you’re comfortable taking someone else’s skip capacity one of the worst things you could put in it would be liquid paint. It’s not accepted by landfill sites and will become someone else’s problem.

weepy
22 May '19

Oh sorry I didn’t see the bit about liquid paint. That would be bad ! I don’t have any problem putting a lil bit of waste in a skip. 99% of the time they are taken below capacity.

Londondrz
22 May '19

When we had building works done we were approached by a neighborhood who asked if they could put a set amount in our skip and offered is a token amount. We were more than happy to oblige. May be a route for you.

armadillo
22 May '19

Given the cost of a skip - it would at least be courteous to check with the hirer first. I once had to get in a second skip after having planned to fill a skip to near capacity, several people thought it was okay to do this and I was unable to fit all my waste in.

Annoying to say the least, and left me several hundred pounds out of pocket.

Londondrz
22 May '19

Yes we had this as well. I caught one person who then got annoyed with me that I wouldn’t allow them to chuck their stuff in the skip.

People seem to have lost the ability to just ask politely.

Beige
22 May '19

Yeah, that’s wasn’t totally clear. OP of a since closed thread was looking to dispose of stuff including lots of liquids.

FermorSimon
22 May '19

We used the City of London service to collect an asbestos pipe and the process worked very smoothly. They sent us asbestos appropriate sacks to bag the pipe up and we lett it at the front of our house on the specified day and it was picked up.

weepy
22 May '19

Nice one.

Cpw1978
22 May '19

Yeah we once got fined by someone electing to use our ‘spare’ capacity to put their own stuff in that happened to be cement asbestos.

A polite ask costs nothing …

weepy
22 May '19

“Please can I put my asbestos in your skip” lol.

I don’t think putting a couple of bits of wood is quite in the same league.

Cpw1978
22 May '19

Just manners. Someone has paid for something you are using. Not sure why that’s such a contentious point.

PV
22 May '19

I have a skip at the moment that I don’t expect to fill and suspect from your username we’re nearby! Let me check what can and can’t go in there, but after tomorrow you’re welcome to use any excess space. Give me a DM if you like and I’ll confirm where we are!

Beige
22 May '19

Address you replying to the OP? That post was over a year ago

PV
22 May '19

Ha, whoops!

Anotherjohn
22 May '19

You’ll have grateful and eager people queueing to top-up your skip now!

BovillDan
22 May '19

Me again. I’ve still got a tiny amount of building waste I need to get rid of.

Not the original waste in the OP - I got rid of that. This is new. Rotten timber. Exciting!

PV
22 May '19

The offer still stands, I’ll drop you a message tomorrow as we’ll have filled it with our stuff by then and know how much space is left!

GillB
24 May '19

Yes we did the same when we had our back guttering replaced. My husband thought that an old flue that was removed could be asbestos. No problems from start to finish!

Rob
31 May '19

Thanks. Being limited to only pedal power getting to a tip is tricky. Collection sounds great