Yes — but weight, not the rules, is usually what actually limits how much you can fit.
Last reviewed: October 2026 · Reviewed by the Skip Hire Calculator team
Bricks, concrete, tiles and similar rubble are accepted by most UK skip suppliers, and they're among the most common things people put in a skip. The catch is weight. A skip that looks half-empty can already be at its limit, and supplier guides report that overweight skips are refused collection or charged extra.
Skip lorries can only carry so much on the road. One supplier states that its standard skip lorries have an 18-tonne maximum gross weight, and that figure covers the lorry, the skip and everything in it, so there's a hard ceiling on how much waste any skip can carry. Dense materials like brick and concrete reach it long before the skip is full by volume, while the same skip filled with cardboard would weigh a fraction as much.
Suppliers set their own rules, so ask before you book. ISM Waste and MyBuilder's guide both say a 6-yard skip is the largest size you can fill entirely with hardcore, bricks and soil. Mick George allows soil and hardcore in an 8-yard skip but asks that it's filled no more than three-quarters full. Stated weight limits vary too: ISM Waste lists 6 tonnes for a 6-yard skip, while MyBuilder's guide uses 3 tonnes as its example. There's no single national figure, so ask your supplier for the weight limit on the size you're booking.
Landfill Tax is charged by weight on waste sent to landfill, at two rates. From 1 April 2026 the lower rate is £8.65 per tonne, and it applies only to materials listed in the Landfill Tax (Qualifying Material) Order 2011 — not to everything that gets called rubble. The standard rate is £130.75 per tonne. GOV.UK says mixed loads normally pay the standard rate, unless there's only an incidental amount of standard-rated material in a mainly lower-rated load. That's a plausible reason suppliers price a clean rubble skip differently from a general one, but what you pay is each supplier's own decision, so ask for a quote on both. Scotland and Wales have their own landfill taxes.
Plasterboard isn't rubble and needs to be kept separate — see our plasterboard guide. Anything that might contain asbestos must not go in a skip at all — see our hazardous waste guide.
What's the weight limit for this skip size? How full can I fill it with heavy waste? Is there a rubble-only skip, and what does it cost compared with a general one?
ISM Waste: skip weight limits; MyBuilder: skip sizes guide; Mick George: 8-yard skip; R Collard: do skips have a weight limit?; GOV.UK: Landfill Tax rates and mixed loads. Supplier policies and weight limits differ; these are examples, not a standard.
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