Here are our commonly asked questions. If you still have a question feel free to call Matt on 0405 539 331.
Bin Placement Guide
Our Bin Placement Guide will help answer your questions about where we can place your bin. Our bins are delivered on a lift truck, which has a lifter that lowers your bin to the ground. If you have a front fence or tiered lawn we can handle that. The truck can drop a bin 1 metre lower than the surface the truck is on, or lift the bin 1 metre over a low fence. Remember that the truck can only place a bin immediately behind the truck, so we have to back up to the location.
Where should the bin go?
The best spot for your bin is on your drive or front lawn. That keeps the Council out of it and discourages other people's rubbish to fill your bin in the middle of the night. Just remember 2 things - our truck has to be able to drop the bin there and you have to be able to easily access the bin to load it.
Driveway
Our truck is 2.7m wide, so please check the width of your drive - especially right at the front if you have a pillar or gates that narrow access.
Front Nature Strip or Road
If you have nowhere in your property to place a bin, we can locate your bin on the front nature strip or on the road. Remember we cannot place a bin sticking out into the road, it needs to be parallel to the kerb, which means we the room for the truck to pull along the kerb to drop the bin. Please ensure you have suitable space for the bin and truck, both for delivery and collection.
Remember Newcastle City Council require a permit to leave a bin on the Council strip or on the Road. The Council charge for this and the application usually takes 3 working days. This will delay delivery of the bin. All Town Skips will submit the paperwork and get the approval for you, the charge is additional to the bin - details here.
Commercial Locations
Please remember to get permission from the Strata Plan Management to place a skip bin, charges may apply if we have to retrieve an empty bin for which you did not have permission. Please be aware most underground carparks are not high enough for a skip truck, we usually place bins on the street. In Newcastle this will require a license from Council.
Council Permits
If you place a bin on the street or Council Strip within the Newcastle City Council area, a Council fee of $80 applies. All Town Skips are pleased to process the Council Application for you.
If you can locate the bin on your property then no fee applies.
Please note Central Coast and Lake Macquarie Councils do not charge a bin fee.
Here is how it works:
- We receive the order;
- We fill in the permit for you;
- We present the permit to Council
- We pay the fee on your behalf;
- We get the approval and deliver the bin - approvals normally take 3 working days.
Parking Meters
When placing a bin on the street in front of parking meters an additional Council fee of $30 applies, making your total charge from Newcastle Council $110.
Fibro & Asbestos
NEW*** From November 1st, 2015 the Government's EPA have decided that all fibro is asbestos unless proven otherwise. This means that you cannot put fibro in a regular bin, or we will both be fined. Please see the guide below for what you should do to dispose of fibro now. Thank you, Matt.
GUIDE TO TELL IF IT IS FIBRO OR ASBESTOS
The EPA now require that all fibro is treated as though it has asbestos in it, unless you can prove otherwise. To prove otherwise you need to do one of 2 things:
- Pay $40 to the EPA and they will test the fibro and issue a clearance certificate;
- Check the back of the sheet. Look for a green stamp that says "asbestos free".
Otherwise you will need to treat the fibro as though it contains asbestos. This means wrapping each sheet or piece in 2 layers of plastic and sealing it, then order an asbestos bin from us for removal. You cannot put double wrapped fibro/asbestos into a general bin, the plastic may puncture and the bin will have to be charged as though it was all asbestos. There is also a Government fine for that. Please note this is not our rules and all legal Skp Bin companies must comply. if you get someone who does accept fibro unwrapped it is probably best to report them to the Council as they are dumping their bins in the bush to avoid high dumping fees and fines.
They used to make "Fibrolite" asbestos sheeting.Villaboard was originally a Wunderlich asbestos product and in 1981 Hardies started production of the cellulose version of Villaboard. Wunderlich had a dimpled backed. If it is 6mm thick and breaks softly, it is cellulose not asbestos. Here is a photo of Asbestos Fibrolite, note the dimpled back:
About Asbestos
Asbestos was a widely used building fibre for about a century before it was phased out between 1984 and 1990. Note however asbestos was not actually banned until 2004. Asbestos fibres are known to cause Asbestosis, a chronic lung disease that can lead to respiratory impairment, Mesothelioma and Lung cancer.
You will probably be surprised to see the photos above, all of these common household building products contain asbestos. Common asbestos building products include:
- Corrugated roofing;
- Exterior and interior corners and joiners;
- Fibro;
- Wall cladding;
- Vinyl floor tiles;
- Bathroom waterproof panels.
The first thing you should do if you suspect you have asbestos is to check out the guides available from the Asbestos Diseases Foundation of Australia here.
The next thing to do is to NOT PUT ASBESTOS IN YOUR SKIP BIN. It is against the law to throw out asbestos, or any of the products you can see on this page. We have a dedicated Asbestos bin available.
If you are renovating a home built before 1987 then the chances are very high that you have asbestos in your home. Now if you have more than 10sqm of material containing asbestos then you should use an accredited asbestos removal service. If you choose to do this yourself you must familiarise yourself with the legislation. Here is some useful information to get you started, and there is more detailed information at the links below. Please pay special attention to the issue of double-wrapping all asbestos pieces.
The correct way to dispose of it is to:
- Wear full protective clothing, and ensure young children are safely off-site;
- DOUBLE Wrap each piece of asbestos material in plastic (which we can provide you with at cost);
- Order an Asbestos Bin of the appropriate size;
- Place each item into the bin carefully to avoid damaging the plastic.
Double Wrap: We can be fined for accepting asbestos that is not wrapped correctly, so in requiring these standards we are not being difficult, its the law. The legislation requires that the asbestos be double wrapped. That simply means wrap it once and when finished wrap it again.
If you have any doubt about the material you are finding in your renovation, our staff are trained in the identification of common asbestos products, and can also direct you as to who else to speak to or where to send a sample for testing, so give us a call.