BOOK A MAN WITH A VAN SERVICE OR HIRE SKIP
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Man & van rubbish clearance is generally defined as the loading and removal of bulky waste from a property by a man & van crew. The service covers collection of waste from anywhere on the property, loading it into a truck, sweeping up any loose material, and delivering the waste to a licensed disposal facility. Rates are based on the volume of waste removed and cover the labour, transport and disposal fees. Man & van rubbish clearance should not be confused with the ‘wait & load’ service offered by skip companies which does not include any labour. It is one of the many options people can use for Rubbish Removal.
A variety of organisations offer the service. These include specialist man & van rubbish clearance companies (of which AnyJunk is obviously our favourite!), one-man bands, skip hire companies, traditional house moving companies (who take away junk at the same time as doing your move), charities, and your local council.
Every council is obliged to offer a subsidised collection service for bulky household items to its residents. Some offer this for free, but most charge – and in recent years those charges have steadily risen. The service is normally restricted to furniture, appliances and other household ‘junk’, rather than builders and home improvement waste. This is because the latter is considered ‘trade waste’ and not something the council should subsidize. Service levels tend to be pretty basic so you will often have to wait a week or so for an appointment and all items must be placed outside. Nonetheless it is normally cheaper than a private service, so if you don’t mind the inconvenience, it’s definitely worth checking your local council’s website to see what they offer.
Private waste companies, although likely to cost more than the council, take the full range of bulky waste (rather than just household junk) and, unlike council crews, their teams will collect from anywhere on the property (including upstairs and the back garden). Plus they will be available at much shorter notice and offer narrow arrival times, so you don’t need to wait around all day. Prices of one man bands may be cheaper than larger, professional organisations. But if you do opt for a one-man band always check they have a waste carrier license and their insurance covers them for waste removal.
Many charities like British Heart Foundation offer a free collection service for good quality, genuinely resalable items (which for sofas and upholstered furniture also means having proper fire certification). So be sure to contact them if you have anything decent. But for the stuff that you know is actual rubbish, please don’t waste their or your time.
Bulky waste means in the context of man & van rubbish clearance any non-hazardous waste that can comfortably be lifted by two people. This includes builders waste, fly-tipped waste, bulky appliances (including domestic fridges), furniture, bric-a-brac, carpet, plasterboard, garden waste and household junk.
For waste licensing, health & safety and insurance reasons, most firms will not remove the following hazardous items:
Man & van clearance firms typically don’t like and aren’t best suited to jobs with lots of very heavy demolition or excavation waste like soil, rubble and cement (often referred to as ‘inert waste’). This is because their collection vehicles are usually light goods vehicles. Light goods vehicles, although cheaper and easier to run than heavy goods vehicles, must by law never weigh more than 3.5 tonnes. An empty LGV truck, crew and fuel weighs 2.0 – 2.5 tonnes, which leaves 1.0 – 1.5 tonnes capacity for the waste (this figure is called the vehicle’s ‘payload’). That payload is fine if the waste is a mix of bulky materials but not if it contains mostly inert waste. So, if you do have lots of very heavy, dense demolition or excavation waste, you will probably be better offer hiring a skip.
Just like cars, vans vary substantially in size and type. The main types of vans and trucks used for bulky waste are:
The labour is a key element of a man & van rubbish clearance. The service and price includes clearing the waste from anywhere on the property and loading it onto the van. It will normally also include a sweep-up. Although crews will often be happy to break things down a bit to make them easier to move or take up less space in the truck, do not expect them to undertake substantial demolition work or dismantling (eg. sawing a sofa in half to fit through doors). If you need this extra service, be prepared to pay more for their time and effort.
Rates for rubbish clearance are based on the volume of bulky waste removed and cover the labour, transport and disposal fees. Volume is normally referred to in cubic yards or fractions of the truck. If you’re comparing prices and someone is quoting fractions of truck, remember that trucks have different sizes and therefore cheaper might not actually mean better if it’s a smaller truck. The important figure to ask for is how big is the box at the back (not how long is the truck or whether it is a 3.5 tonner or 7.5 tonner – this is just jargon designed to bamboozle the uninformed!). You can see images of different sizes of sizes with prices in our Booking funnel.
Note that a few special items – the most common are fridges, TVs and mattresses – will incur a supplement because they need to be disposed of differently to general waste and this costs the waste clearance company a bit more in disposal fees.
As a rough guide, a full 14 yard truck clearance should cost around £360 (£300 ex VAT) and ½ truck (ie. 7 cubic yards) around £220 (£180 ex VAT). Collection of single furniture item should cost around £40 – £50.
FYI, the national average cost of a 6 cubic yard skip (before adding permit fees and parking suspensions if placed on a road) is around £226 (£188 ex VAT).