Cheapest way to dispose of Earth

markdavey

Hi,

I am putting in a new Path down my front garden. To do this, obviously, I am going to have to dig out an amount of earth which I need to dispose of. Skips are now pretty expensive and I wondered whether anyone had any ideas for a cheaper method to dispose of the unwanted earth...

Many thanks

Mark

bitemebankers

Do you mean topsoil? If so, you can almost certainly get rid of it for nothing on Freecycle. There are usually keep gardeners and allotment holders who will collect it. You might even be able to find someone to take the sub-soil for use as hardcore, but you might well have to skip that.

keystone

Hippo bag? Marginally cheaper than a skip. Skips are expensive because of landfill taxes and inordinately high charges for commecial disposal anyway by local authorities. But a skip may be the simplest option TBH.

Cheers

markdavey

I'm having to dig through a lawn so it will be a mixture of turf, soil and the usual amount of rubble that is left under the soil when a house is built.

bitemebankers

Well, if you separate the spoil into turf, soil and sub-soil as you're digging, at least two of those three could be of use to someone. Mix them all up and they just become waste.

Imp

You could try "The Great Escape" method on your way into work each day.

fluffymuffy

I got rid of a huge heap over a couple of years by adding a little (in a tied bag) to my wheely bin every week.

Tucker

Depends on how much is involved and if you are digging it out yourself?

I recently had over 40 tonne removed from my back garden to level part of it and dig out foundations for an extension. The cost to do it via skips was huge, so I used a local farmer who does groundwork using mini diggers and they disposed of it by the trailer load and because it was only earth it was far cheaper than general land fill disposal which is where a skip ends up.

Might be worth ringing around groundwork firms for a price.

I paid £480 and that was for 2 blokes (one digging / one using dumper), mini digger, dumper truck and dispoal via tractor and trailer and they worked their socks off all day. Simply wasn't worth me getting my hands dirty at that price as it would have taken forever and more skips than I care to think about.

Niv

Depends on how much you want to get rid off, but you could try to contact teh local Landfill site. They use clean soils to get final contours and for restoration etc. You may still need to arrange collection, but may be worth a call as they may take it very cheap / free as it is not subject to landfill tax (if it is clean).

bettybeaver

Does your local Household Recycling centre have the facility to take it for you??? Ours does and we used it when digging out a path just as you are doing. All it involved was a trailer and little effort on our behalf to shovel it in at this end and out again at the other. Much cheeper and a really good form of exercise!!!

DVardysShadow

You could bury it