How to dispose of rubbish in Reading

19 January 2023

Welcome to our how to dispose of rubbish in Reading guide. This article covers how to responsibly dispose of anything too big for your bins (furniture, sofas, appliances or DIY waste, for example). The key sections are:

Reuse options in Reading
Reading council bulky waste collection service
Man & van collectors, including how to find a good one in Reading plus example prices
Skip hire Reading plus local providers, prices and permit fees
Local recycling centres in Reading

1. Reuse options in Reading

Are your items still in good shape? Before tipping, consider donating for reuse. There are plenty of options for reuse in Reading and the great thing is that most of them are free. Below are some popular reuse charities and social enterprises in Reading. They accept second hand items that are larger, like furniture and appliances.

Reuse organisation	Address
Brothers Office Furniture	3 Sterling Way, Reading RG30 6HW
SARA – Asthma Charity – Second Hand and Used Furniture	16b Richfield Ave, Reading RG1 8EQ.
British Heart Foundation Furniture & Electrical	26 Oxford Rd, Reading RG1 7LA
Christian Community Action Ministries	79 Northumberland Ave, Reading RG2 7PT

Top tip: you need fire labels still attached to any upholstered (fabric) furniture for charity donations. See our Guide to Reuse and Freecycle Reading or try Furniture Removal Reading.

2. Reading council bulky waste collection service

Reading council offers a bulky waste collection service for items that don’t fit in your wheelie bins. They offer one free collection per property, per 6 month period. This allows up to 3 items, or 1 fridge/ freezer. They also offer a paid collection service of up to 5 items per collection, and as many as you need throughout the year. Click here to see the items they do and don’t collect.

Cost of the collection service & more details

Free collection every 6 months
£52.50 for 1-3 items and £8.40 per extra item
For fridges/ freezers, the price is £50.40

Concessions: available. 25% discount with a ‘Your Reading’ passport. Prices with concessions added:

1-3 items cost £39.50 and £6.30 per extra item
Fridge/ freezers cost £37.80

Some more details: You can’t get rid of upholstered furniture through the council service anymore. This is because of legislation passed at the beginning of 2023. Upholstered items include sofas, armchairs, beanbags, home office chairs or footstools. The council service can still collect mattresses. If you have any of these upholstered items to get rid of, see man & van collectors in Reading below.

Book your bulky waste collection from Reading council here.

3. Licensed man and van waste collectors

An alternative to the Reading council service is hiring a licensed man & van rubbish collector. There are a few advantages to this option:

Faster response time
They can usually collect all waste, including most of the council’s prohibited items
Man & van collectors can take waste from inside your property. This is helpful if you can’t lift or move the items outside yourself

Cheapest licensed rubbish clearance in Reading

Find local, fully licensed and insured rubbish clearance businesses with the LoveJunk marketplace. Getting rid of your items is really easy. All you need to do is take a picture of your unwanted stuff, choose a collection time and publish your listing. A nearby licensed waste carrier gives a quote to remove it. If your item is reusable, a reuser can come and pick it up for free. Either way, you’ll get rid of your item responsibly. It’s free to use the LoveJunk platform and the marketplace is recommended by many councils around the country.

4. Skip hire Reading

Skips are useful if you have messy waste or rubble to dispose of. Unlike man & van collectors, though, you’ll need to load the skip yourself. Skip prices are fixed so it doesn’t matter how full or empty the skip is, you’ll pay the same. It’s usually much more expensive to hire a skip because of additional permit and license fees.

Reading skip hire companies

We recommend local licensed companies when looking to hire a skip. Here are some of the main skip hire companies operating in Reading:

Reliable Skip Hire Reading	0118 409 1003
Reynolds Skip Hire Ltd	0118 957 1655
Collard Group Ltd	0118 959 0252
Kings Recycling Skip Hire & Rubbish Clearance	0118 449 2488

Skip hire prices in Reading

Here are the typical skip hire prices (including VAT) for a mixed general waste skip in Reading. Prices reflect a hire period of 14 days. They do not include the cost of necessary skip permits or parking bay suspensions.

Builder skip: 6-8 cubic yard skip @ £285 – £335

Maxi skip: 10-12 cubic yard skip @ £440

Skip Permits and Bay Suspensions

To place a skip on the road or in a parking bay (as opposed to on your drive, for example), you need a skip permit license and/ or a controlled parking zone (CPZ) suspension permit. If you need one of these, your skip hire company will deal with the application. Just be aware of the extra costs.

Skip license Reading: £35 per week, up to 4 weeks.

CPZ Bay Suspension in Reading: £15 per day, per bay.

5. Reading recycling centre sites

There are 2 recycling centres in Reading. You must be a resident in Reading and you do need to book an appointment to visit the recycling centres. Here are their addresses:

Reading site – Smallmead Recycling Centre, Island Road, Reading, RG2 0RP
Bracknell site – Longshot Lane Recycling Centre, Longshot Lane, Bracknell, RG12 1RL

To see opening hours, how to book and what to bring with you, see our Guide to Reading Recycling Centre sites.

Map of Reading tips

Finally…

Thanks for reading! We hope you found our how to dispose of rubbish in Reading guide useful. If you’d like to do some further reading, try:

How to Dispose of Rubbish – an ultimate guide to rubbish removal!

Junk Diaries