Junk Removal vs. Dumpster Rentals – Making the Right Choice for You!

Aside from renting a truck and hauling small loads of waste to a recycling facility yourself, there are two ways to get rid of tons worth of waste. The first option is to hire a junk removal company. The second is to rent one or more roll-off bins from a dumpster rental. Either type of company is excellent in helping you dispose of and recycle most kinds of household and commercial waste, but they differ in the role they play in your project. While both companies will handle your waste delivery to a recycling facility, a junk removal company will help you with all the heavy lifting. On the other hand, a dumpster rental company lets you load the bin on your own and in your own time.

Which Service is Better?

Both options have their pros and cons. Your project and how you want to go about finishing it will determine which option is better. However, no matter which option you go with, you will need to review all the waste you want to dispose of and determine whether the company accepts it. Food waste, hazardous waste, and explosive materials are typically things most companies can’t haul away.

The most significant factors you should consider are:

• Who do you want to do the heavy lifting and load the bin?
• How long do you expect your project to take? One day or 5+ days?
• What kind of waste(s) are you disposing of? Can it be mixed with other things?

Junk Removal Company

Junk removal services are full-service waste removal companies. They are ideal for projects where stakeholders want to hire someone to load the bin and haul everything away. A good junk removal company will schedule a time to come to your home, office, or project site and help you remove your junk, as well as clean up any debris, all in a single trip. They might even work with you to figure out what to keep and what to get rid of. The average cost to hire a junk removal company in BC is $350 – $800 for a single load. That said, they typically won’t give you a quote until they drop by to see your project site. Their pricing varies by load and includes labour and dump fees.

Where it might not make sense to hire a junk removal company is in projects where you are happy to load the bin yourself, expect to load a container over days, or where you may need to make multiple trips to the dump. This is where the cost of a junk removal company explodes in comparison to a dumpster rental company.

Dumpster Rental Company

In contrast, a dumpster rental company drops off the bins you need and picks them up when they are full, allowing you to work on your own time. They typically offer an extensive inventory with many sizes ranging from 8 to 40 cubic yards, holding up to around 10,000 pounds. Dumpster rental companies are best from projects where you are happy to do the work yourself or where you want to sort through your house or business and clean at your speed.

Most dumpster rental companies are eco-friendly, bringing most if not all loads to nearby recycling centers. The upside is that they are highly efficient at recycling aggregates – loads comprised of one kind of waste. Their efficiency leads to massive savings for project stakeholders as processing mixed waste can be far more expensive.

The downside is that you may need more than one bin to recycle everything properly – much like your residentially serving blue bin services. For example, you would need two containers if you wanted to place yard trimmings in with concrete. These are considered two different aggregates. The price of dumpster rentals in BC can range from $350 to $860 for a five-day rental with dump/ recycling fees included.

If you plan on placing your dumpster rental on the street or sidewalk, you may need a permit.

When Neither is a Good Option

The waste removal industry is highly regulated. For safety reasons, neither type of company will handle food waste, hazardous waste, or explosive/ flammable waste. You will need to research municipal options to dispose of prohibited types of waste correctly.

While it is possible that certain companies may accept specific objects that fall into one of the aforementioned categories, they will only do so if they are legally able to, and they will likely charge additional fees to do so. Failure to notify your service provider when you try to dispose of any prohibited materials can result in not just extra fees but legal action.