How to Dispose of Bathroom Waste: Getting Rid of Baths & Toilets
Every homeowner reaches a point where they’re sick of dirty grout, peeling paint and well-worn bathroom fixtures. If that sounds like you, the time may have come for a change - and there’s nothing quite as satisfying as tearing out the offending bathroom and tiling up in a brand-new style.
Before you can bring in the new, however, you’ll need to get rid of the old. That’s not much of a problem when you’re throwing out a towel radiator or a single sink, but it may seem more daunting when you’re dealing with a 50kg bathtub and a shower cubicle. So how do you dispose of a bath, a toilet or a bathroom sink? Here are our top tips for getting rid of your bathroom waste as quickly (and safely) as possible.
How to Dispose of DIY Bathroom Waste
It is far easier to get rid of your bathroom waste, from hiring a skip for your broken tiles to asking a man and van service to dispose of a glass shower screen. While using your local HWRC is free, it’s also one of the hardest ways to dispose of heavy and messy renovation rubbish.
How to Dispose of Toilets, Baths & Bathroom Sinks
If you don't want to deal with the mess, the best way to dispose of your bathroom suite after you have disconnected it is to hire someone to remove your DIY waste for you. If you’re removing your entire bathroom suite at once, along with other waste such as tiles, you will probably be disposing of at least 4 cubic yards of waste.
Toilets, baths, and bathroom sinks are typically made of ceramics - a type of synthetic material fired in a kiln. This makes them brittle and susceptible to breaking into sharp pieces, especially when dropped or subjected to damage. It’s advisable to handle them with care when placing them into a skip or a HIPPOBAG, or when putting them outside.
Glass Shower Screen & Door Disposal Methods
Always remove glass with at least one other person helping out and avoid putting pressure on the centre of the pane. Set it aside and add it to a HIPPOBAG when you have finished filling it, ensuring it fits in the bag so it’s not at risk of falling off the top when lifted by our crane.
The best service to handle glass is our man and van team. The crew can move the panel safely without risking damage and will be able to take it to be recycled in one piece.
How to Get Rid of Plasterboard
Plasterboard contains gypsum, an element that can produce hydrogen sulphide when left to decompose. Because of this, plasterboard can’t be disposed of alongside other waste - if it is, it may contaminate recyclables and pose a hazard. Due to this, you’ll need to double-wrap plasterboard before placing it into a HIPPOBAG to avoid contaminating other rubbish.
Can You Take a Bath to the Tip?
Some baths are made of stainless steel, while others contain acrylic, fibreglass, copper and even cast iron! Because of this, whether you can take a bath to the tip or not depends on your local council, the tip rules and the type of vehicle you’ll need to transport it. Here are a few things you’ll need to do to drop your bathtub off successfully.
Check the Tip Rules
Every Household Waste Recycling Centre is different. Some tips place a weight limit on waste disposal, while others prohibit certain vehicles from dropping off waste. Identify the name of your local tip and see if they have rules listed online. These may be tip-specific or be set by the local authority on your council website. Before you prepare to move your tub, it’s important to check the rules to avoid being turned away at the gates.
Hire a Van
Unless you own a minivan or a large estate car, it’s unlikely that your vehicle will be able to transport a full-size bathtub. Hiring a van is your best option if you plan to take the tub to the tip yourself. When you choose a van to hire, ensure that it meets the specifications permitted by your local HWRC and that it will allow you to enter the site. Some tips require evidence that it is a hire vehicle, and disallow side-tippers, large trailers and commercial vehicles.
Ask for Help
Unless you’re used to heavy lifting, nobody really wants to move a bathtub alone, especially if you’re disposing of a bathtub made of metal. And good luck moving a cast iron unless you have a few hands to help! Make a plan if you need help getting it out of the bathroom, down the stairs, into the van, and finally removing it at the tip. Ask friends and family if they have time to help you out, and stop off for a Greggs on the way back.
Alternatives to Bathroom Disposal
If your old bathroom isn’t past its prime just yet, you don’t have to dispose of your fixtures altogether. There are alternative methods of removal that work just as well to remove the bathroom suite from your home without letting it go to waste. Here are a couple of options you have if you don’t think your ceramics deserve to be recycled yet:
Give them to Charity
If you have a bath or sink in good condition, a charity might be able to take it off your hands. Examples include the British Heart Foundation, Reuse Network, and Habitat for Humanity. However, you may be able to find more location-specific charities in your area that can sell on a tub or a sink. Charities that accept larger furniture may even be able to pick it up from your door, saving you from hiring a van to get it out of your house.
Sell Them On
If your items are still in good working order, you can sell them on sites like Facebook Marketplace and eBay. You can even mark them as ‘for collection’, removing the stress of having to deliver the items yourself.
Hassle-free Bathroom Waste Collections
Failing to give them away, if you don’t want to do the heavy lifting and the mess in your vehicle and visiting your local tip, you can contact us at HIPPO, and we’ll take your bathroom waste away.
For large single items, we recommend you use our Man & Van service. For ongoing bathroom renovation projects, our HIPPOBAG will do the job, and you can fill it at your own leisure for up to 6 months until you need to book a collection when you purchase a HIPPOBAG & Collection package. Bigger projects, such as renovating a house? Check out our skip hire service.