Skip hire in Edinburgh, made simple
Serving Edinburgh for 30+ years. Slide to find the right size, then get a fast, no-obligation quote.
0131-224 0042Skip hire in Edinburgh & across Midlothian
We’ve delivered skips across Edinburgh for over 30 years — for homeowners clearing out, tradespeople on site, and businesses managing regular waste. Fast delivery throughout the EH postcode area, with a local team you can actually get on the phone.
Skip sizes available in Edinburgh
Do I need a permit?
A skip on your driveway or private land needs no permit. For a public road in Edinburgh, a permit is required from City of Edinburgh Council — we arrange it for you as part of the booking.
Areas we cover near Edinburgh
Edinburgh household waste recycling centres
Prefer to drop off smaller amounts yourself? These are the council tips serving Edinburgh:
- Seafield Recycling Centre — 76 Seafield Road, Edinburgh, EH6 7LW. Open Mon–Fri 8am–7.30pm, Sat–Sun 8am–6pm
- Sighthill Recycling Centre — 30 Bankhead Avenue, Edinburgh, EH11 4EA. Open Mon–Fri 8am–7.30pm, Sat–Sun 8am–6pm
- Craigmillar Recycling Centre — Old Dalkeith Road, Edinburgh. Note: pedestrian access currently suspended. No vans permitted at this site
Edinburgh residents only — booking required via edinburgh.gov.uk/bookrecycling. Van and trailer users must bring photo ID and proof of Edinburgh address. No commercial waste accepted. Closed 25–26 December and 1–2 January.
Why choose Select A Skip in Edinburgh?
- 30+ years’ skip & waste experience
- 1,100+ licensed, vetted suppliers
- Domestic, trade & commercial welcome
- Next-day delivery in most EH postcodes
- Council permits handled for you
- Transparent pricing, no hidden charges
Skip hire FAQs.
We provide cheap, local and reliable domestic skip hire in Edinburgh and within a 30 mile radius.
It’s not just a case of how much waste you have! You also need to consider how much room you have on your site and will then need to think about the type of waste you will be disposing of. For example if the waste is heavy (e.g. soil/brick/rubble) then you will be restricted as to how large a skip you can have.
When only a single skip is expected, we strongly believe that it’s better to hire a skip that you may not quite fill, as opposed to ordering a skip which ends up being too small meaning a second skip is then required as a result. In other words it’s better to overestimate than underestimate!
When filling a skip it can only be loaded up to the level of the actual skip itself.
It is important that your site foreman and operatives are aware of this as it is actually against the law for drivers to carry over loaded skips on the highways. Likewise, using boards around the skip in an attempt to increase it’s capacity (known in the trade as ‘greedy boards’) is illegal.
If a driver arrives on site to find an overloaded skip they are likely to turn away and leave without the skip, thus potentially incurring additional transport charges.
Though we try to be as flexible with hire periods as possible, as a general rule the maximum hire period is 7 days.
Of course should your site be an ongoing one where numerous skips are required and exchanged on a regular basis then there is nothing to worry about. If however, you require a skip that is likely to be needed for more than 7 days without exchanges, we request you inform us at the time of ordering as a rental charge may be applicable.
Yes. Though any skip that needs to be sited on a public highway, pavement or council owned verge, first requires permission from the local authority responsible.
Though the charges involved and the length of time it takes an application to be processed varies from council to council, in the vast majority of cases we can arrange the required permit on your behalf. Depending on the local authority in question, application periods can be anything from ‘same day’ to 4 weeks, so when you know that a permit is likely to be required on an upcoming site it is vital that you give us as much notice as possible to avoid any unnecessary delays.
Please also note that as the hirer, the lighting and coning of the skip whilst it is placed on public land is your responsibility, though we are usually able to arrange for the hire of these items on your behalf too.
A standard skip or roll-on-off vehicle usually requires a minimum of 10ft (3.3m) width and approximately 13ft (4m) headroom to safely gain access to a site. If your site access falls a little below these requirements we are able to (in most areas) arrange for smaller skips (depending on waste type) to be delivered on smaller lorries.
If you are in any doubt about the access to your sites, we are here to help, so just ask!
There are certain types of waste that cannot be placed in general waste skips under any circumstances.
Examples of such waste types include (but are not limited to): asbestos, fridges, freezers, batteries, tyres, gas cannisters, paint tins, food waste, fluorescent tubes, liquids, TV sets, computer monitors, plasterboard, electrical items (WEEE), mattresses, tree stumps, tree roots, carpet, vinyl, astroturf, rubber matting & roof felt.
It is vital that you always inform us of exactly what your are intending to dispose of at the time of ordering!
What we can provide
Other Services.
With more than 25years of trading history we have continuously developed the services we are now able to provide on a nationwide basis.
Local area guide
Skip hire in Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland, sitting on the south shore of the Firth of Forth, with a population of around 525,000 — the second largest city in Scotland after Glasgow. It has been the Scottish capital since the fifteenth century and is built across a dramatic landscape of volcanic crags and glacial ridges, with the castle rock, Arthur's Seat and Calton Hill all shaping the city's famous skyline. Edinburgh has been the seat of the Scottish Parliament since devolution in 1999 and is one of the largest financial centres in the UK, alongside a substantial tourism, education and technology economy.
The Old Town and New Town together form a UNESCO World Heritage Site, an unusual pairing of a dense medieval townscape and a planned Georgian grid. Edinburgh Castle sits at the top of the Royal Mile, which runs down through the Old Town's closes and wynds to the Palace of Holyroodhouse and the Scottish Parliament. The New Town, laid out by James Craig from 1767, gives the city Princes Street, Charlotte Square, and the grand terraces of the Moray and Drummond estates. Other landmarks include the Scott Monument, the National Museum of Scotland, the Royal Botanic Garden and Arthur's Seat, while the Edinburgh Festival and Fringe each August make it one of the world's great festival cities.
Edinburgh is well connected, with Waverley and Haymarket stations offering trains to London King's Cross in around four and a half hours and fast services to Glasgow, Aberdeen and Newcastle. Edinburgh Airport lies eight miles west, linked to the centre by the tram line which now runs through to Newhaven. The city bypass and M8, M9 and M90 serve the wider area. Edinburgh's neighbourhoods include Stockbridge, Morningside, Bruntsfield, Marchmont and Newington closer to the centre, Leith and Portobello towards the coast, and Corstorphine, Colinton, Trinity, Gorgie and Craigmillar further out.
Housing in Edinburgh is dominated by tenements and Georgian townhouses, with Victorian tenement flats across Marchmont, Bruntsfield, Gorgie, Leith and Newington, Georgian property in the New Town and Stockbridge, Victorian villas in Morningside and Trinity, interwar bungalows in Corstorphine, and post-war estates at Wester Hailes, Craigmillar and Muirhouse. Property values are the highest in Scotland, and the sheer volume of listed buildings and conservation areas means renovation work is tightly controlled. The large student population supports an extensive HMO market around Marchmont and Newington, and Leith and the waterfront continue to see substantial regeneration.
That combination of tenement refurbishment, HMO turnover and ongoing development keeps skip hire in Edinburgh in constant demand, whether it's a full flat renovation in Marchmont, a Georgian refurbishment in the New Town, a garden clearance in Corstorphine, an HMO refit in Newington or a commercial strip-out in Leith. Skips are available in a range of sizes to suit everything from a small domestic clear-out to a large building project, and because the city's tenement streets have no off-road parking and are almost entirely covered by controlled parking zones, a skip permit from the City of Edinburgh Council will nearly always be needed — and stair access in tenement blocks means planning how waste gets to the skip is worth thinking about early. Booking well ahead helps secure the right size and allows time for the permit to be arranged.
Choose your skip size in Edinburgh
Not sure which size you need? Compare dimensions, capacity and typical uses — every size below is available in Edinburgh.
Local guide
Skip hire in Edinburgh: permits, sizes & access
Skip permits in Edinburgh work differently
Edinburgh has its own rules, and in a city of tenements, terraces and permit-parking zones, far more skips need a permit than elsewhere. On your own driveway or private land, no permit is needed. On a public road, pavement or parking bay you need a permit from the City of Edinburgh Council, which acts as the Roads Authority under the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 — different legislation from England. Waste in Scotland is regulated by SEPA rather than the Environment Agency, worth knowing for business Duty of Care.
Costs, parking bays & lead time
Fees are set by the council — a charge for the first week and a further charge per additional week, higher than the rough £22/week Scottish baseline given the city’s demand — and added to your quote. Two Edinburgh-specific points: if the skip sits in a pay-and-display or permit bay (very common), the council requires a parking bay suspension, charged separately and often via NSL, which can add up; and certain busy roads are designated traffic-sensitive, carrying extra notice requirements. Permits typically need around 5 working days’ notice, so a road placement is rarely a same-day job.
The rules — and wait-and-load
On the road a skip must be clearly marked with the owner’s details, lit or coned at night and guarded by day, and must not sit on Greenways, Clearways or double yellow lines. The maximum on the road is roughly a 14-yard skip; roll-on roll-off containers are not permitted on the highway in the city. For the many tenement flats and tight streets with nowhere private to place a skip, wait-and-load is the practical answer — the lorry waits while you load, so no skip is left on the road and no permit is needed.