Can You Put Soil and Rubble in the Same Skip?

Physically yes, sensibly no. Soil and rubble can go in together, and plenty of people do it, but keeping them separate is nearly always cheaper. Whether it is worth the effort depends on how much you have.

The reason it costs more mixed

Clean, uncontaminated hardcore has value. Concrete, brick and stone on their own can be crushed and reused as aggregate, which is a real market with a real price attached. Clean soil similarly has uses in landscaping and remediation.

Mix them and both lose most of that value, because the crushing plant does not want soil in the feed and the soil is now full of masonry. A mixed load has to be processed as general inert waste instead, which is a more expensive disposal route. Add wood, plastic or general rubbish to the same skip and the cost climbs again.

The weight problem, which is worse than the cost problem

Both materials are dense, and this catches out more people than the pricing does. A skip that looks a third full of soil can already be at the weight a lorry is permitted to lift. If we arrive and it is over, we cannot take it, and you are looking at removing material by hand before it can go anywhere.

This is why a 6 yard is generally the largest we would put heavy material in. Anything bigger would only ever be part-filled, so you would be paying for space the weight limit does not let you use. There is more on this in our guide to choosing a skip size.

When separating is worth it

Two skips means two delivery charges, so there is a break-even point. As a rough rule:

• Small amounts. Half a skip's worth in total? Put it in together. The saving will not cover a second delivery.
• Larger volumes. A patio lifted plus a border dug out, or anything running to multiple skip loads, is where separation starts paying for itself properly.
• Groundworks. At that scale you are past skips anyway. Muck away or grab hire will shift it faster and cheaper.

Keeping it clean in practice

If you are separating, the discipline has to hold on site. One barrow of general rubbish tipped into the hardcore skip contaminates the whole load and undoes the saving. Mark the skips, tell whoever else is working on the job, and keep a third bin or bag for the odds and ends that do not belong in either.

Turf and topsoil are worth a thought too. Good topsoil is a resource, and it may be worth keeping some back for the garden rather than paying to remove it and then paying again to replace it.

Ask before you book

Tell us what proportion of each you are expecting on 01302 490 249 and we will tell you honestly whether separating is worth it for your job. On a small domestic project it usually is not. On anything larger it usually is. Send us the details and we will work it out with you.