Need help? Call 1300 361 608

All you will ever need to know about General Waste

News > All you will ever need to know about General Waste

General waste dumped wrecklessly is a problem for community and customers

Who or What is General Waste?

General Waste is not a who, it is most definitely a what. Well waste is known by many titles including Rubbish, Trash, Garbage and it is basically unwanted materials that are no longer required by their owner who wants to dispose of them. The prefix general just means that it could be a bit of everything all mixed up as opposed to be sorted. Bottom line General waste is just another term for mixed rubbish that our potential customers want to gid rid of.

Are there different kinds of General Waste?

In many ways general waste or mixed rubbish is just that a mixture of different types of rubbish so traditionally General Waste was general waste although these dsys it is spilt into different categgories because of the introduction of waste levies and the move to charging for waste disposal by weight rather than just volume. If you are getting rid of you waste just by volume no one would care what was in it. But when you have to pay for waste disposal by weight that heavy mixed waste cost more to get rid of. So now we have at least two types of general waste:

  • Heavy General waste

  • Light General waste

Heavy general waste here is a mixture of soil and other building materialsLight General Waste from residential property dunped in access lane

What makes General waste heavy?

The main materials that make general waste heavy are ceramic products (including bricks, tiles, pavers etc), concrete, sand, soil, aggregates, large tree trunks, tree stumps, palm tree trunks, hard woods (like railway sleepers), glass and water or water logged materials. There heavier materials usually weigh at least a tonne per cubic metre or more, about ten times heavier than Light general waste.

What is Light General waste?

Light general waste are materials that weight more like 100 to 150 kg per cubic meter when dry. Light general waste materials could include clothes, cardboard, waxed cardboard, plastics, furniture, electrical whitegoods, electronic waste, green waste (like grass clippings, tree cuttings, prunings, weeds and other organic waste from the garden), food scraps, mattresses, tyres, construction timber, wooden furniture, plasterboard, papers and magazines,

Frequently asked questions about General Waste Disposal?

What can be placed in general waste bins?

Good question as there are many types of bins and some of these have restrictions because of how the waste is collected from them. Form example:

  • Wheelie bins - are popular for residential collections where the rubbish is usually sent directly to landfill facilities for burial. These bins allow the provision of cost effective services to households on a weekly or fortnightly basis by councils across Australia. When used for mixed rubbish (as opposed to recycling) they would be called a general waste bin.

  • Front-lift bins - are often used for commercial waste collections or commercial waste services for collect rubbish from a wide range of businesses. These bins are emptied by trucks that can lift the bins over the cab at the front of the trunk and tip the rubbish in to the back of the truck.

    Front-lift lifting arms can usually only lift up to a tonne so they are not suited to use for heavy general waste. The following items make a lot of noise when falling into a truck from a bin. Bricks and concrete falling into the back of the turck would also be likely to damage the truck and so that is undesireable. These bins often called a general waste bin allow the provision of cost effective services to meet many business needs of every day business.

  • Bulk bins - are just bigger bins that usually start at volumes greater than 2 cubic metres and can be as large as 40 cubic metres. Bulk bins are also known as:

    • Skip Bins - often used for construction and building wastes as they are good for heavy wastes when dleivered and collect by larger trucks with large capacity lifting gear. The lifters on the trucks are known as Marrell lifters and so the bbbins are Marrell skip bins, another type of general waste bin.

    • Hook lift bins - large square bins often used for industrial and commercial waste collection for businesses and shopping facilities (malls)

  • tippler bins - used for multi-story building sites where general waste is collect on a floor and then tipped into a larger bin like a hook bin.

  • Containers and compactors - can often be seen at shopping centres and malls for the collection of sorted or mixed waste depending on their waste management plan. Compactors especially are used for cardbaord that is to be recycled.

What happens to rubbish placed in a general waste bin?

The waste put into general waste bins will be handled according to a general waste management plan to minimise the environmental impact of the rubbish. Often the waste will be sorted so that recycling of valuable resources can occur and minimise the volume of waste going to landfill. Waste management is an important part of our first world civilisation and there are many waste management compannies offering all sorts of total waste management solutions to meet the needs of lost of differnet businesses, from manufacturing to education. The handling and processing of waste requires complex logistics to dispose of our rubbish.

Is hazardous rubbish like batteries, tyres, asbestos allowed in general waste bins?

While according to state EPA's these wastes are part of the general waste family they should not be placed in general waste containers or equipment. Most waste services that sort and recycle general waste do not want hazardous stuff placed in their bins as they would be a health hazard to their team members or staff. Recycling is an important element of general waste management and it is important to following the directions given for waste services to ensure the safe transport of rubbish and recycling to waste management facilities.

Is it OK to put rubbish in a General waste skip bin?

If you have a larger amouunt of general waste or rubbish then a skip bin (or skip bins) is a good solution to your waste managment problem. Skip bin hire is an easy solution as you can often find skip bins available for delivery to your suburb right here with one search. Skip bins are ideal for rubbish removal of all sorts of general waste as they can be used for a rich assortment of rubbish inclding demolition waste, green waste, sand, soil etc.

Unsure of what sort of waste you have got?

If you need assistance to decided what sort of waste you have, you can always contact us and speak with one of our friendly team. Our team is always happy to help pick the right service for your waste to get disposed of.

General waste from building site can be either heavy or light general wasteResidential customers more often than not have general light waste including plastic, unwanted equipment and want a solution to declutterGeneral waste from a renovation often includes plastics and timberBreak of day and the general waste is looking good drenched in the morning sun

  • Authored By:Stephen Shergold
  • Updated:05/06/2023