The Effects of Lockdown on Skip Services
With the country slowly coming out of Covid hibernation, getting back to normality is a welcome relief. But the impact of Covid and subsequent lockdowns have had a knock-on effect on several sectors and industries. In this article we look at the effects of lockdown on skip hire services.
Recycling centre closures
Across the UK recycling centres felt the full force of the national lockdown with many closing to follow government guidelines. These centres are the main point for the recycling of waste and with them closed for a period of months certainly had a detrimental effect on production and the environment.
The closing of these centres also had an impact on the collection times which also had a knock-on effect of travel time to those centres which were open but on limited capacity.
When the third national lockdown happened there was good news for these centres as the government permitted them to remain open as they were regarded as a public service.
What about the effect on household waste?
Over the last 18-months more of us have spent a lot of time at home, this means that household waste has increased and there are several reasons for this.
Many people didn’t even know what furlough meant until the first lockdown came along but with many people having to stay at home it meant all those DIY jobs people had been putting off could finally get done. However, with it came an increase in waste from garden clearances to packaging.
With more time away from work online retailers saw a huge increase in sales particularly as high street shops were closed. Online shopping was always going to compete with the high street and the pandemic only sped that up leaving people with no other alternative than to get their essentials online.
The downside of this was the large quantity of packaging that built up due to everything being delivered straight to the front door. Many homes without sufficient space were forced to find alternative means to recycle their waste - or store it until such time as recycling centres and tips could open.
You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to know that household waste has increased during the lockdowns. As well as recycling centres being pushed to capacity there has also been a rise in fly-tipping.
Contact Us
If you have any questions about the use of a skip or need to hire one, then get in touch with the team here at United Junk. We have a wide range of skips in different sizes, and all perfectly suited for the task at hand. We look forward to hearing from you!