Garbage containers come in a variety of shapes and sizes, with differing containers suitable for different kinds of jobs.
If you want your waste disposed of as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible, take the time to choose the best container for your particular project. Here are the various factors to bear in mind. And if you need a little help choosing, you can always ask your trusty local rubbish removers for guidance.
Why Size and Frequency Matter
If your garbage container is too small for the amount of waste you’re producing, you’ll face overage chargers.
Overage occurs when the amount of waste no longer fits into the container. You either end up with a lit that doesn’t close or bags of trash on the ground. Aside from being messy, these unprotected rubbish bags attract rats, raccoons, and other animals.
In the short term, most waste disposal companies are happy to haul away overage with a small extra charge, but in the long term, you’ll need to increase container size, pickup frequency, or both.
On the other side of things, you may find yourself with a garbage container too large for your needs. This leads to plenty of extra space when it comes time for pickup. In this case, you’re paying a lot more than you need to be. The solution here is to reduce the size of your containers, the pickup frequency, or both.
Three Main Types of Garbage Containers
Judging the amount of waste you’re going to produce is no easy task, and there’s often an element of trial and error involved.
Experienced rubbish removal professionals have seen every kind of waste-producing project under the sun and can usually estimate your container needs with accuracy. To help you decide by yourself, here are the main types of containers and what kind of project each one is best suited for:
Two-Wheel Trash Cans
Standard two-wheel trash cans are the perfect garbage container for recurring residential use, and you probably have one at your house right now.
Their tall, narrow shape makes them perfect space-savers, and they can be tipped up and wheeled around by one person with ease. The most common size of two-wheelers is 240 liters, which is about 60 gallons, or enough to hold six to eight large kitchen trash bags.
These garbage containers are suitable for commercial use as well when the volume of waste is generally low or when the volume varies a lot. Two-wheel trash cans are also good for separating trash for recycling. But when it comes to most renovation or spring cleaning projects, a small garbage container is unlikely to be large enough.
Commercial Dumpsters
The next level up is commercial dumpsters. This is a large four-wheeled garbage container you often see in alleys behind restaurants, and also on the sites small residential or commercial projects.
The most common commercial dumpsters can hold about 24 large kitchen-sized trash bags. They’re perfect for recurring waste disposal and also for recycling most demands.
These garbage containers are also great for small residential decluttering and spring cleaning projects, smaller landscaping jobs, and collecting waste during a move. They’re convenient to drop off and pick up in almost any location and are good for most smaller projects.
Roll-Off Dumpsters
For more serious residential renovation jobs, commercial projects, and construction or demolition sites, you’ll need an open-top roll-off dumpster.
This large heavy-duty garbage container can handle a great deal of waste and debris of all shapes and sizes, especially the bulkier waste produced by extensive remodeling work. They’re usually open-top but can come with a canvas tarp, a plastic top, or a hard steel top.
Roll-off dumpsters are great for both long-term and short-term, large projects that produce a lot of waste. Once filled up, these dumpsters can be taken to the local landfill, emptied, and taken back to the project site to fill up again.
10-Yard Roll-Off Dumpsters
This garbage container is great for smaller residential jobs like a bathroom remodeling project, a garage clean out, or the removal of a single landscaping element, like a pathway, walkway, or small stretch of a patio.
20-Yard Roll-Off Dumpsters
A garbage container, like the 20-yard roll-off dumpsters, can be used for renovations of larger rooms, decluttering of a sizable basement, or a larger landscaping operation such as the removal of a concrete driveway.
30-Yard Roll-Off Dumpsters
If you’re planning on organizing and hauling away the contents of an entire home, you’re likely to need at least a 30-yard dumpster. These larger garbage containers are also great for commercial projects.
40-Yard Roll-Off Dumpsters
The 40-yard dumpsters can hold six to eight tons of debris. These largest roll-offs are necessary for the biggest house clean outs or remodeling jobs. Most commercial renovation, building sites, and industrial projects will need a garbage container or two of this size.
Always Consider Accessibility
Now you have a good idea of what size garbage container you need for your project, one final important consideration is accessibility.
You need enough of a flat surface for the garbage container to sit without impeding traffic to and from the site or property. For dumpster delivery, the delivery truck itself needs room to maneuver without the risk of damaging anything.
When you have a potential eight-ton object resting on an area of ground, that surface needs to be tough. Most hard surfaces are fine for dumpsters, including asphalt, concrete, gravel, and bare ground.
Bare grassy surfaces may become churned up unless protected by layers of plywood. It’s also best to avoid placing dumpsters on already damaged surfaces, which might become further damaged by the wheels or weight of the garbage container.
Choosing the right garbage container for your project doesn’t have to be hard. From everyday residential trash to large scale commercial projects, you can find the right garbage container to fit your needs.
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