Depends entirely on whether it's treated — this is a real, regulated distinction, not just a guideline.
Last reviewed: September 2026 · Reviewed by the Skip Hire Calculator team
Clean, untreated wood — offcuts, pallets, plain timber with no coating — is standard acceptable waste in most general skips, and is often recycled as biomass fuel or chipped rather than landfilled.
Wood that's been painted, stained, varnished or chemically treated is classified differently under UK waste rules and can be assessed as hazardous or non-hazardous depending on testing. This isn't a minor technicality — treated and untreated waste wood should be kept separate where practical, since the presence of treated wood affects how the whole load can legally be processed. Source: letsrecycle.com on Environment Agency waste wood guidance.
Creosote-treated wood, railway sleepers and telegraph poles are explicitly treated as hazardous waste and must never go in a general skip — these need specialist disposal regardless of quantity.
A few offcuts of painted skirting board mixed into general waste is unlikely to cause an issue. A large quantity of treated timber — decking, fence panels, old sleepers — should be flagged to your supplier before booking, since it may need a different skip or collection route than general waste.
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