Is DIY Taking Rubbish To The Tip in the Trailer Cheaper Than Hiring A Skip

In this article, we would like to address one of the common dillemas that our customers face in regards to finding the cheapest way of getting rid of their rubbish.  Quite often, a question arises whether it's cheaper to DIY taking trailer directly to the tip vs hiring a skip bin. We decided to deep dive into this topic and analyse this situation from a few angles.

First of all - the DIY notion is always appears the cheapest at first.  For instance -

• Do I mow my own lawns or do I hire a gardener?  Of cause DIY lawnmowing is cheaper.
• Do I cook myself or hire a cook or buy a takeway?  Again - DIY is cheaper
• Do I clean my house myself or hire a cleaner?  DIY is cheaper again.

When it comes to using a trailer vs hiring a skip, there are more factors to consider. 

• First up - do you own a trailer?  If the answer is "no" then hiring a trailer is your first cost, depending on trailer size and hire period.
• How much rubbish do you have?  If you only have a little bit of rubbish, under 1 cubic meter, then one trip to the tip might be sufficient. However if you have more than a trailer load, be prepared to do it all over again.  If you've never been to the tip - be prepared to be hit with the most displeasing oudors, rude and impatient people and lets not forget the long queues you might be waiting in before you get into the tip.  For a very comprehensive analysis of what you can expect at the tip - we recommend to listen to Episode 5 of our Podcast "Talking Trash" , where we examine this topic in detail.
• How much time do you have to deal with your rubbish disposal? One of the interesting feedbacks that we get from our customers is that with the trailer there seems to be a double handling of rubbish in the following way:
  • First you need to load your trailer
  • Second once you are at the tip, depending on the tip that you are going to, they might get you to off load your rubbish to a few different bays, by waste type.  Hence you are first loading the trailer and then you are off-loading the trailer.  Factor in the driving time to and from the tip and the waiting time in the queue to get into the tip.
  • Should you have more waste than one trailer load then you will need to repeat this process again.  For time poor people this might not be a viable option.

When is Taking Trailer to The Tip Actually Makes Sense?

We have drilled our Recycling Yard Manager for this information and here's what we found:

• Assuming you have plenty of time to deal with loading and off loading of the trailer, it makes financial sense to use a trailer vs Skip Bin when you have less than 1 cubic meters worth of rubbish.  An example from May 2023 Pricing would be: our smallest Skip Bin Size is 2 cubic meters, with an average cost of $407, therefore if you have less than 1 cubic meters or under 1 tonne of waste, the tip might charge you $300 plus GST, depending on a tip so it might work out cheaper.
• Very important to note that most tips will charge you a minimum of one tonne of weight.  Therefore if you bring in 200kg or waste or 900 kg of waste, you will still be charged one tonne minimum.  However if you bring over 1 tonne of weight, you will be charged a minimum of 2 tonne, at which point - hiring our smallest 2 cubic meters skip bin becomes immediately cheaper.  Below is a simple cost comparison for you:
  • If you have between one and 2 tonnes of weight in your trailer, the tip will charge you for a minim of 2 tones.  If we take $300 per tonne as an average cost for rubbish disposal then expect to pay a minimum of $600 plus GST at the tip, compared to $407 for a mini skip with no weight limitations.
  • If you compare our best seller - 6 cubic meters skip bin, with an average price (as at May 2023) across Melbourne Suburbs of $817 to 6 tonnes taken in a trailer to the tip, expect to pay $300 x 6 = $1800 plus GST at the tip plus a few trips with your trailer plus loading and off loading the waste yourself.  The verdict from us is that when you have more than 1 tonne of weight of rubbish to dispose, it becomes far more cost and time effective to hire a skip.
• We have also identified two instances of when it would make sense to use trailer over skip.  If you happen to have one type of recyclable material, such as 100% cardboard or 100% metal and taking your trailer to a specialised cardboard place or metal place then you might be able to dispose of your material for free.  Keep in mind that even in this scenario if time is of the essense to you, then hiring a skip bin for 100% cardboard or 100% metal will only cost you $287 from us (as at May 2023), as we only charge for transport, hence again its a time / cost analysis on what would work best for you.

Waste Transfer Station Open To Public - New Service from 2023

Since writing this blog, we have listened to our customer's demands and have opened up our Waste Transfer Station to our customers, to enable them to come and tip their trailers, when the project is too small to hire a skip bin.  In particular, the most popular waste type that customers chose to dispose of by trailer has been soil. 

As our facility charges per cubic meter and not per weight - our customers are thrilled to be saving money on this exceptional soil disposal rate.  Soil, being a heavy product, when charged per weight will set you back hundreds of dollars per tonne, but if your soil is wet, it will be heavier and cost significantly more at the landfills.  Experience the fast tipping - under 10 minutes in our Clayton South facility and save time and money while disposing of your soil and landscaping waste with your trailer, van or truck.  We are located at the corner of Deals & Fraser Roads, Clayton South, Opposite the Cleanaway landfill.  Call us on 1300 605 624 for any questions about our new service.

Skip Hire vs Trailer To the Tip Cost / Benefit Analysis

To summarise our detailed analysis of the most cost and time effective solution to your waste disposal, you need to keep in mind the following factors when comparing both options:

• The amount of rubbish that you have to dispose of (anything over 1 tonne points to skip bin hire being more cost effective)
• Availability of your time to deal with your rubbish disposal (do you have time to load, off load trailer, go to the tip, then repeat the process again)
• The type of waste you might have, is that a mixed heavy waste or is it one type of recyclable waste, such as cardboard or metal
• Consider whether you are sensitive to excessive dust and odours, which you will be exposed to at the tip
• Availability of trailer / Van or Truck to transport your waste.

We hope that this article has addressed your fundamental questions in order to make an informative decision whether it's more beneficial to take your trailer to the tip or hiring a skip bin.  For any questions or quatations on any waste types and bin sizes, please don't hesitate to call our friendly and experienced team on 1300 605 624 to help you work out the most time and cost effective solution for your rubbish disposal.