Nobody prices rubbish by the hour
The single thing that confuses people about waste removal pricing is that it is not priced by time, and it is not really priced by weight either. It is priced by space in the van. Every tipping site charges us by the tonne, every job costs us the same diesel and the same two pairs of hands, so what varies between one job and the next is how much of the van your rubbish fills.
That is why a quote sounds vague until you send a photo. Once we can see the pile, we can see the van space, and the number stops being a guess.
What a van load actually means
A full load in our van is roughly 16 cubic yards. If that means nothing to you — and it means nothing to most people — here is the translation:
| Load | Roughly equivalent to | General waste | Garden waste |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quarter van | 15–20 bin bags, or a small bedroom cleared | £160 | £80 |
| Half van | A single garage, or a lounge of furniture | £290 | £140 |
| Full van | A two-bed flat clearance, or a stripped-out kitchen | £450 | £250 |
Garden waste is cheaper because green waste costs us less to dispose of than mixed household rubbish. If your load is genuinely garden waste — hedge cuttings, turf, soil, branches — that is the price you pay, not the general rate.
Small jobs and single items
Not everything is a van load. If you have got four bags in the hallway and a mattress, paying for a quarter van makes no sense, so single items are priced on their own:
- Black bin bag — £3 a bag, or £2.50 each from 40 bags up
- Mattress, any size — £50
- Two-seater sofa — £40
- Three-seater sofa — £60
- L-shaped sofa — £90 (add £50 if it is a sofa bed)
Upholstered furniture costs more than its size suggests for a reason that has nothing to do with us: soft furnishings containing persistent organic pollutants have to be kept separate from other waste and sent for incineration rather than landfill or shredding. That handling is what you are paying for on a sofa or a mattress.
The four things that move a quote
1. Access
A pile at the kerb and a pile at the bottom of a terraced garden in Cathays are the same volume and very different jobs. Our access charges are published rather than improvised: £10 per flight of stairs, and £30 where items have to be carried more than 10 metres to the van. You are told about both before we set off, never after the van is loaded.
2. Weight
Volume pricing has one exception, and it is soil, rubble, concrete and tiles. A van can be legally overweight while it still looks half empty. Heavy inert waste is normally quoted separately — tell us it is rubble up front rather than letting the driver discover it.
3. What is actually in the pile
Two things we do not take at all: fridges and freezers (regulated gases, they need a specialist route) and asbestos (licensed removal only — if you suspect old artex, a garage roof or a water tank, do not disturb it). Paint, oils, solvents, tyres, gas bottles and car batteries also have their own disposal channels. If you are not sure about something, send a photo and we will tell you straight away.
4. How accurately you described it
This is the big one. The quotes that go wrong are almost always the ones given over the phone from a description like “a bit of stuff in the garage”. Send a photo. It takes ten seconds and it is the difference between a price and an estimate.
What should not be on the bill
Some things get charged by some firms and should not be. There is no charge for a quote. Access charges should be quoted up front, not discovered at the end. And you should never be asked to pay before the van is loaded.
One more: the price should include the waste transfer documentation. If a company will not give you a receipt showing their waste carrier licence number, you have no proof of where your rubbish went — and under the household duty of care in Wales, that is your problem as much as theirs.
Cardiff, Newport and everywhere between
We do not charge a different rate by postcode. Cardiff, Newport, Barry, Penarth, Caerphilly and the surrounding areas are all covered at the same prices, and there is no mileage surcharge for being at the edge of the patch. If you are further out than that, ask — we will either quote it or tell you honestly that someone closer will do it cheaper.
Getting a firm number
Photograph the pile from a few feet back so the scale is obvious, include anything bulky in the shot, and mention the access — ground floor, third floor, back garden. Send it on WhatsApp and you will get a price back, not a range.
Full item-by-item pricing and a load calculator live on our prices page.