9 Questions to Consider Before You Order a Skip Bin in Melbourne!

This will tell you the skip bins waste category you need to hire!

It pays to take a quick look at what you're intending to dispose of and the reasons behind discarding this waste.

The reasons you need to know exactly what the type of materials and items you are disposing of are to make sure:

• you order the correct waste category for your specific waste

• you are not going to load hazardous or prohibited waste into the skip bin

• there are specific waste types which are not allowed within some waste categories

This will tell you what size skip bin you will need to hire!

You will need to visualise some form of measurement in order to be able to make an informed judgement or decision of the skip bin hire size suitable for your waste disposal needs.

A simple form of measurement, can be as simple as how many wheelie bin loads, (wheelie bins are different sizes, so you need to know the size of wheelie bin you are using e.g. 240 litre etc.) wheelbarrow loads, trailer loads, etc., of junk would you need to get rid of all our junk?

You can pass this information on the Wendy to help you make to best decision for your skip bin hire size required.

This is another gauge to select your skip bin size required, due to the length of your longest items!

Some items like furniture are just awkward shapes to dispose of, they also take up alot of space in the skip bins and mini skips.

If you are disposing of a couch which is say 3m long, hiring a small 2 m3 skip bin is a waste of time, it would be too small for the job. So you need to make sure the skip bin you hire will actually fit the items you are discarding.

Look for the skip bin size dimensions to make sure your load will fit safely within the confines of the skip bins.

This will help guide you to the timeframe you will need to hire the skip bins for!

Some people need help or assistance to fill their skip bin, so it is prudent to allow some extra time to load the skip, just incase they leave you in the lurch for a day or two.

By sorting out if the kids are helping you, a friend, a family member etc, you need to take their availability into account prior to ordering your skip bin hire service. Sometimes the best made plans and peoples good intents can fall apart at an instant, so allow for a little longer rather than a hire period which is too short.

Prohibited Waste in a skip bin is illegal, big fines are guaranteed by the EPA!

Find out what prohibited waste is here.

The responsibility of the skip bin or mini skips contents fall on the person that chose to order a skip bin service!

It is up to waste disposal companies to make an effort to educate customers of the prohibited and hazardous waste, but if people load prohibited waste, and the company gets fined, the fine will be passed onto the person hiring the skip bin or mini skips service. Fines for asbestos, chemicals etc, can be well into the many thousands of dollars!

So do the right thing, most of it is common sense, people know the basics of what a chemical is, how petrol can start fires, etc.

Is there enough space for your skip bin, is the access point wide enough for a truck?

This seem like simple question, but so many people don't consider where they are going to place the skip bin until the truck arrives with their skip bin. Some people want the skip bin to be placed at the back of the house near the garage, which is fine. However, just because your car fits, trucks don't necessarily also fit!

The average skip bin truck is a medium size which will require 3.3m this is for the revision mirror width of the truck to have gap of approxamately 200mm each side.

The bigger trucks will require 3.6m at the height of the mirrors

People forget to look up at the height of there trees branches, or how low the wires are!

This is a dangerous situation, mainly for the power lines. From the truck drivers point of view, looking from the road, houses power lines are no always clearly visible. At time they are intermingled with the overgrown bushy trees and can easily be ripped down. When you order a skip bin in Melbourne, it's best to notify the company, so the driver is aware of the danger.

When lifting the skip bins on and off the truck, a clearance over head of 3.5m to 4m is required, this is due to the height of the arms on the crane. If you have less than the required height you need to notify the company to avoid accidents from happening.

Many people want skip bins placed on the front yard, in a paddock or nature-strip!

Before waste disposal companies allow their trucks to place the wheels of the truck on grass or soil, the ground has to be hard packed, preferably with stones on the top. Trucks are heavy, because your car is able to drive on the grass or dirt without a problem, trucks often sink!

In the summer when the ground is dry and hard this isn't an issue. But in winter, trucks on grass and dirt will get bogged. Small and medium size trucks do not have a diff-lock to drive both the back wheels to help prevent wheel spin, where as the big trucks do. If you see a large truck driving on wet grass or dirt, the chances are a small or medium size truck will get bogged.

Do you want the skip bin on the road?

Some people don't want the skip bin on any part of their property for whatever reason, that's there prerogative and fair enough.

But it comes at a cost!

On-Road Council Permits are required under all council buy-laws in Melbourne. This comes at an added expense to the person choosing to oder a skip bin in Melbourne. Council-On Road Permit prices are different for each individual council, the time it takes to get a permit also varies, some councils only take minutes, while others want drawings and measurements of the skip bins placement on the road, how far from a driveway, etc.

Waste disposal companies have to organise the permit on behalf of the customer, whether the company adds a processing fee for the permit is up to the company.