Can You Put Paint In A Skip?
If you’ve been redecorating your home, adding the finishing touches to a project or even if you are just clearing out your garage or garden shed, chances are you’ll have some leftover paint or paint tins to get rid of. If you’ve found this article, then chances are you are wondering ‘can I put paint in a skip?’ – you’ve come to the right place to find out more.
Can I put paint in a skip?
If you are getting rid of paint as part of a building project or at the same time as clearing a property, then you might have a skip ready and waiting for any accumulated piles of waste.
Paint is a flammable and hazardous substance, so it must be disposed of carefully. Therefore, you cannot put paint in a skip. Old paint tins, whether empty, full, or half-used cannot be mixed with other types of waste.
One of the main reasons you cannot put paint tins in a skip is because wet paint can contaminate the rest of your waste. Liquid paint can spill into the skip, or leak out and cause damage to the environment. If wet paint is sent to landfill it can also damage the environment and contaminate waterways.
Luckily, paint tins can be recycled at most local authority Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRC), so keep them separate from other waste and you’ll be able to dispose of them safely and responsibly.
What happens if I put paint in a skip?
If you put paint in a skip, your skip hire provider may refuse to take the waste away or you might be subject to fines to cover the cost of decontamination. It’s tempting to think you could hide a few tins of paint underneath other waste, but doing so could be costly for both your pocket and the environment.
It’s worth doing things properly, so well done for checking and being responsible about your waste management responsibilities.
How can I dispose of paint?
We’ve put together a more detailed guide to paint disposal which contains lots more information on getting rid of paint. If you are looking for a quick overview though, here are some key points from that guide.
- Allow paint to dry, either by using small amounts of remaining paint on pieces of cardboard or by leaving paint to harden in the tin. You can speed up the process by adding cat litter or sawdust.
- Don’t let usable paint go to waste. Store it properly and then either use it for another project, sell it, or donate it to a good cause.
- Your local HWRC will usually have the facilities to recycle paint tins.
As with any potentially hazardous substance, it is important to ensure you do not put tins of paint in a skip. Use the space in your skip for the vast number of items and materials that can be disposed of this way.
