How to dispose of rubbish in Manchester

16 December 2022

Welcome to the ultimate how to dispose of rubbish in Manchester guide. This article contains all the ways to get rid of items too bulky for your wheelie bins (e.g. sofas or other items of furniture, appliances, rubble). The key sections in this article are:

Reuse options in Manchester
Manchester city council bulky waste collection service
Man & Van collectors
Skip hire Manchester plus local providers, prices and permit fees
Local recycling centres

1. Reuse options in Manchester

Are your items still in decent shape? Somebody could reuse them! There are plenty of options for reuse in Manchester and the great thing is that most of them are free. Below are some popular reuse charities and social enterprises in Manchester. They accept larger items like second hand furniture and appliances.

Reuse organisation	Address
Furniture Warehouse Manchester	1 Warwick Road South, Manchester, United Kingdom
St Ann’s charity shop (furniture)	164 Stockport Rd, Ardwick, Manchester M13 9AB
Used Furniture Company	The Downs, Middleton, Manchester, M24 1TT
Wesley Community Furniture	St Wilfrid's Hall Birchvale Close Hulme Manchester M15 5BJ
Hope Direct Local (second hand furniture)	100 Chorlton Rd, Old Trafford, Stretford, Manchester M15 4AL
British Heart Foundation (Furniture and Electrical) (2x locations)	Cheetham Hill shop: 56 Bury Old Rd, Cheetham Hill, Manchester M8 5BN Harpurhey shop: North City Shopping Centre, 22 Lee Road, Manchester M9 4DH
Mustard Tree (furniture)	110 Oldham Rd, Ancoats, Manchester M4 6AG

For more ideas on reusing your items, see our guide to Freecycle Manchester. Or if you just want to dispose of furniture items hassle-free, have a look at Furniture Removal Manchester.

2. Manchester council bulky waste collection service

Manchester City Council offers a bulky waste collection service for items that don’t fit in your bins. They can collect up to 6 items per booking (details further down). The council can collect generally larger items like furniture, white goods, appliances with exceptions. They cannot collect:

Hazardous waste - chemicals, asbestos, paint stripper	Building or DIY waste and rubble
Laminated floorboards or kitchen worktops	Window frames, external doors and conservatories
Fencing, decking, greenhouses, sheds, pallets or petrol lawn mowers	Tyres, gas canisters, car batteries/ parts or engines
Glass items - window panes, glass tables, large mirrors

Cost of the collection service & more details

Manchester council offers one free collection of up to 3 items a year (1st April - 31st March). An additional 3 items can be added to your 3 free items, for a charge of £27.

If you have already had your free yearly collection, the prices are:

£27 up to 3 items
£54 up to 6 items

Concessions: apart from 1 free yearly collection, none available.

Some more details:

Household waste only - businesses can’t use the council service
The council can’t come inside your property - items must be put as close to your bin collection point as possible
Items like cupboards and fridges must be empty (apart from their own fixtures)
The council cannot take items that are dangerous to lift or could damage a vehicle
They will not accept items too big or heavy for 2 people to love and lift safely

To book your collection, click here. You will need to set up an account and can only use the service with an address covered by Manchester City Council.

3. Licensed man and van waste collectors

One of the alternatives to the council service is hiring a licensed man & van rubbish collector. There are a few advantages to this option. They can usually respond faster than the council and can collect all waste, including most of the council’s prohibited items. Man & van can also collect waste from inside your property. This helps if you can’t lift or move items outside yourself.

It's essential to ask any waste carrier to hire if they have a license from the Environment Agency and valid public liability insurance. Avoid cowboy collectors who will fly tip your waste!

Cheapest licensed rubbish removal service in Manchester

Find a local, fully licensed waste removal business using the LoveJunk marketplace. You can find the cheapest price by simply posting a picture of your unwanted stuff and choosing from the no obligation quotes you receive. It's free to receive quotes, you pay the waste carrier securely online with no need to provide cash and you'll get full documentation that your waste was responsibly disposed of. No fly tipping guaranteed, and LoveJunk is widely recommended by councils.

4. Skip hire Manchester

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.

Manchester 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 Manchester:

J&L skip hire LTD	0161 931 9988
GM Skip Hire Ltd	0161 327 3013
Skip Co MCR	0161 788 0077
Salford Skip Hire Ltd. Manchester	0161 737 1111
Sheridan Skips Manchester	0161 675 0622

Skip hire prices in Manchester

Here are the typical skip hire prices (including VAT) for a mixed general waste skip in Manchester. 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 @ £270-£280

Maxi skip: 10-12 cubic yard skip @ £420

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. It is the responsibility of the skip company you hire to obtain these permits. Just be aware of the extra expense it will cost you.

Skip license Manchester: £34 up to 7 days

CPZ Bay Suspension in Manchester: £34 up to 7 days

5. Manchester recycling centres

There are 20 recycling centres in Greater Manchester. You must be a resident in Manchester and you do not need to book an appointment to visit any of the recycling centres. Here are their addresses:

Altrincham - Woodhouse Lane, WA14 5TB
Bolton - Salford Road, BL5 1DG
(Central) Bolton - Hurtswood Court, BL3 2NH
Bredbury - Bredbury Parkway, SK6 2SN
Bury - Every Street, BL9 5BE
Cheadle Hulme - Adswood Road, SK8 5QY
Clifton - Lumns Lane, M27 8LN
Droylsden - Ash Road, M43 6QU
Eccles - Boysnope Wharf, M30 7RH
Failsworth - Reliance Street, M40 3EZ
Levenshulme - Sandfold Lane, M19 3BJ
Marple - Rose Hill, SK6 6HU
Middleton - Spring Vale, M24 2HR
Oldham - Arkwright Street, OL9 9LZ
Radcliffe - Cemetery Road, M26 4FT
Rochdale - Chichester Street, OL16 2AU
Salford - Cobden Street, M6 6NA - see our guide to Cobden Street Recycling centre here.
Sharston - Longley Lane, M22 4RQ - read our guide to Longley Lane Recycling Centre here.
Stalybridge - Bayley Street, SK15 1PZ
Stretford - Chester Road, M32 9AU

If you are a resident in Greater Manchester and want to find your closest recycling centre, see here. We've written a comprehensive Manchester Recycling Centre guide with restrictions, permits, hours and more in full detail.

Map of Manchester tips

Finally,

Thank you for reading! We hope you found our how to dispose of rubbish in Manchester guide useful. For further reading, why not take a look at our How to Dispose of Rubbish guide, which has all sorts of specific waste advice and top tips for saving money.

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