TipYardFree UK skip, VAT and tip tools

Waste helper

Rubble-sack and skip-bag size helper

Measure your pile and compare it with published HIPPOBAG-style skip-bag sizes, and with Greater Manchester’s five-sack soil and rubble limit at the tip. Official tip sacks are 900 mm × 600 mm, but no filled height is published, so a sack count is only shown if you enter an assumed height.

Your pile

Leave the sack height blank if you do not want to guess. The official Greater Manchester limit is five sacks per visit, not a volume.

Common questions

What is the Greater Manchester tip sack limit?

Recycle for Greater Manchester allows soil and rubble in five (900 mm × 600 mm) rubble sacks per visit. Official pages do not publish a filled height, and they do not say whether soil and rubble share one combined five-sack allowance or each have a separate limit. Trade waste is refused. For large DIY loads they advise hiring a skip.

How big are HIPPOBAGs?

On Hippowaste’s HIPPOBAG page, opened 15 November 2026: MIDIBAG 90 × 90 × 90 cm, 1 tonne (described as a 1-yard skip bag); MEGABAG 180 × 90 × 70 cm, 1.5 tonnes (1.5-yard); HIPPOSKIP 210 × 165 × 100 cm, 1.5 tonnes (4.5-yard). This helper works out volume from those published dimensions. A HIPPOSKIP should only be filled one quarter with the heaviest waste.

Do I need a permit for a skip bag on the road?

Yes. GOV.UK says you need a skip licence for skips, hippobags and other skip bags if they go on a public road. You do not need one on private land, and you cannot put one on the pavement.

Why can’t you convert my pile into official tip sacks without a height?

The official limit is a count of sacks of a published face size, not a volume. Without a published filled height, any conversion would be an assumption. If you enter your own assumed fill height, the helper will show the maths and label it as your assumption.

Sources