What can go in a skip?
Nearly everything, a few things with conditions, and seven things never. The definitive list — with what to do instead for every item we can’t take.
The short answer
Almost all household, garden and construction waste can go straight in a skip: furniture, wood, metal, plastics, bricks, rubble, soil and full kitchen or bathroom rip-outs. Mattresses, carpets and plasterboard are accepted at a small extra charge — plasterboard double-bagged and kept separate. Fridges, freezers, tyres, asbestos, paint, chemicals, gas bottles and batteriescan’t go in at all. Heavy waste (soil, rubble) is limited to 8-yard skips and below — never the 16-yard.
These aren’t house rules for the sake of it. Every skip comes back to our Leeds transfer station to be tipped and sorted, and over 90% of what we collect is diverted from landfill — which only works if hazardous and special-stream items stay out of the mix. Here’s the full picture, worst offenders last.
Goes straight in.
No declarations, no extra charges, no drama. If it's on this list, throw it in — subject only to the heavy-waste size rule below.
General household
- Furniture and flat-pack
- Clothes, toys and books
- Cardboard and packaging
- Wood and laminate flooring
- Metal, plastics and glass
- General clear-out clutter
Garden
- Soil and turf
- Branches, hedge and grass cuttings
- Old fencing and shed panels
- Decking boards
- Plant pots and garden furniture
- Paving and rockery stone
Construction & renovation
- Bricks, rubble and hardcore
- Tiles and ceramics
- Kitchen units and worktops
- Bathroom suites
- Timber and joinery offcuts
- Plaster (plasterboard is separate — see below)
Heavy waste stops at 8 yards.
The one rule on the green list worth reading twice.
Soil, rubble, hardcore, bricks and tiles are welcome in the 2, 4 and 8-yard skips, filled level with the rim. They can never go in the 16-yard maxi, which takes light, bulky waste only. The reason is weight, not fussiness: an 8-yard skip of hardcore already weighs several tonnes, and a 16-yarder of the same would be beyond what any skip lorry can legally lift or carry.
Sizing a job with a lot of muck in it? The skip size guide covers the maths — and for serious quantities of soil or hardcore, grab hire moves more for less.
Allowed — with a charge.
Three items are accepted but classed as controlled waste: they need separate handling at the transfer station, so they carry a small charge and need declaring when you book.
Mattresses
Accepted with a small charge — they’re pulled out and processed separately at the transfer station. Declare how many when you book. Other routes are compared in the mattress disposal guide.
Carpets & underlay
Accepted with a small charge, because carpet can’t travel through the normal sorting line. Roll it rather than piling it loose — it packs far smaller. See the carpet disposal guide for alternatives.
Plasterboard
Accepted with a charge, but it must be kept separate from the rest of the load and double-bagged— gypsum has to be processed apart from general waste, so a skip with plasterboard scattered through it can’t be sorted properly. Bag it, tell us at booking, done.
Not on this list: fridges and freezers. People often assume they’re a chargeable extra like mattresses — they aren’t. They can’t go in a skip at any price, for reasons the fridge & freezer disposal guide explains, along with what to do instead.
Never in a skip — and what to do instead.
Seven items, no exceptions, whatever another firm's small print implies. Each one has a legal route that's usually cheaper than you'd expect.
Fridges & freezers
Why it’s banned
Refrigerant gases and insulation must be professionally removed before the unit is recycled — impossible in a mixed skip load.
What to do instead
Retailer take-back when a new appliance arrives, a council bulky-waste collection, or the recycling centre. Options compared in the fridge & freezer guide.
Tyres
Why it’s banned
Banned from landfill outright and from our sorting line — they jam machinery and have their own legally required recycling stream.
What to do instead
Any tyre fitter will take them for a small fee per tyre. The routes and typical costs are in the tyre disposal guide.
Asbestos
Why it’s banned
A licensed hazard. Disturbing it releases fibres, and it must never travel in mixed waste of any kind.
What to do instead
Don’t touch it, don’t break it up. Use a licensed asbestos removal contractor — your council’s website lists approved firms and its own advice for small bonded sheets.
Paint & solvents
Why it’s banned
Wet paint is classed as hazardous waste and contaminates everything it touches in the skip.
What to do instead
Use it up, give it away, or dry tins out completely (a bag of sand or soil speeds this up), then take them to your local household waste recycling centre.
Chemicals & oils
Why it’s banned
Garden chemicals, cleaning products and engine oil are all hazardous streams that can't be sorted back out of a mixed load.
What to do instead
Councils accept household hazardous waste at recycling centres; garages take waste engine oil. Keep everything in its original containers.
Gas bottles
Why it’s banned
Pressurised vessels — including 'empty' ones — are a genuine explosion risk at a transfer station.
What to do instead
Return them to the supplier: most bottled-gas firms take their own cylinders back, and many refund a deposit for the privilege.
Batteries
Why it’s banned
Car and household batteries — lithium ones especially — are the waste industry's biggest fire risk. They cannot travel in a skip.
What to do instead
Supermarket collection points take household batteries; retailers and scrap yards take car batteries, usually free of charge.
Why so strict? Because every load is tipped and hand-and-machine sorted at our transfer station, and one wrong item can condemn a load that would otherwise have been recycled — the difference between waste becoming aggregate and fuel, or going to landfill. It’s how we keep the over-90%-diverted-from-landfill figure honest. When in doubt, ring 0113 539 9836 before you throw.
The ones people always ask.
Sizing, pricing and delivery questions live in the big FAQ guide.
Yes — mattresses are accepted in Onyx skips, but as controlled waste with a small extra charge, because each one has to be pulled out at the transfer station and processed separately rather than going through the normal sorting line. Tell us how many when you book and we'll confirm the charge upfront. Don't bury them at the bottom and hope: every load is tipped and sorted, so they're always found, and an undeclared mattress costs more than a declared one.
No — fridges and freezers can never go in a skip. They contain refrigerant gases and insulation blowing agents that must be professionally extracted before the unit is recycled, which is impossible once it's mixed into a skip load. Instead, use retailer take-back when a new appliance is delivered, book a council bulky-waste collection, or take it to a household waste recycling centre. Our fridge and freezer disposal guide compares the options for Leeds and Wakefield, including the cheapest.
Yes, with two conditions: it carries a small charge, and it must be kept separate from the rest of the waste — double-bagged, not scattered through the load. Gypsum has to be processed apart from general waste at the transfer station, so a skip with loose plasterboard mixed in can't be sorted properly. Bag your offcuts as you strip the room, stack them at one end of the skip, and mention plasterboard when you book so the charge is agreed before delivery.
Not with paint in them. Wet paint is hazardous waste — one tipped tin can contaminate an entire skip load and everything it would have been sorted into. Use the paint up, pass it on, or dry the tins out completely (stir in sand or soil to speed it up), then take them to your household waste recycling centre. The same logic applies to solvents, garden chemicals, cleaning products and oils: if it pours, it doesn't go in the skip.
Soil, rubble, hardcore, tiles and other heavy waste are fine in our 2, 4 and 8-yard skips, filled level with the rim. They can never go in the 16-yard maxi, which is for light, bulky waste only — a 16-yarder of hardcore would weigh far more than any skip lorry can legally lift. For bulk muck beyond an 8-yarder, grab hire is normally the better-value option. If you're mixing heavy and light waste, tell us at booking on 0113 539 9836 and we'll size it properly.
It gets found — every load is tipped and sorted at our transfer station, so nothing stays hidden. A prohibited item means the driver may have to leave the skip until it's removed, or we have to extract and dispose of the item through the correct specialist stream and charge the cost on. In the worst cases (asbestos, chemicals) a single item can condemn a whole load that would otherwise have been recycled. If you're unsure about something, ring us before you throw it in — the call is free, the extraction isn't.
Item-by-item disposal guides.
For everything the skip can't take — or takes with conditions — the full options, costs and shortcuts.
How to get rid of a mattress
Every route that works — skip, council collection, retailer take-back — with realistic costs and the one thing not to do.
Read the guideFridge & freezer disposal
Fridges can't go in a skip. Here's what to do instead: council collections, retailer take-back and recycling centre options.
Read the guideHow to dispose of tyres
Tyres are banned from skips and landfill alike. The legal routes, what they typically cost, and why fly-tipping costs far more.
Read the guideCarpet disposal, done sensibly
Skip, recycling centre or collection? What old carpet and underlay cost to shift, and how to halve the volume before you start.
Read the guideKnow what's going in? Book the skip.
Declare any controlled waste at booking and the price you see is the price you pay — VAT, delivery, collection and seven days' hire included.