Whether you’re a domestic or a commercial skip hire customer, you need to be certain that the waste material you are placing in your skip will be dealt with legally and professionally. One way of identifying a reputable skip hire company is to find out whether or not they are a member of the National Skip Hire Association (NSHA), a the UK’s only trade organisation to which skip hire companies can apply for membership.
The National Skip Hire Association was established in August 2007 in order to provide a means of allowing skip hire customers to easily identify ethical and professional skip hire companies, as opposed to fly-tippers: unlicenced waste carriers who illegally dump waste materials on land that is not authorised to accept it.
The National Skip Hire Association works closely with the Trading Standards Office in the pursuit and prosecution of ‘rogue’ waste carriers who damage the reputation of the skip hire industry.
Professional, legal skip hire companies that are licenced by the Environment Agency as Approved Waste Carriers may apply to become members of the National Skip Hire Association. Applicants are fully vetted to ensure that they are reliable and competent, and members of the NSHA are bound by a code of professional conduct.
The key benefit to a skip hire firm of becoming a member of the National Skip Hire Association is that they are enabled to display the NSHA’s logo on their vehicles, advertising, website and company stationery. This provides assurance to the skip hire company’s potential customers that it is a legitimate, professional and reliable business which conforms to the NSHA’s code of conduct. Additional benefits of National Skip Hire Association membership include free web advertising, fuel cards which reduce the cost of fuel and competitive vehicle insurance.
The good news for domestic and commercial skip hire customers is that in the last five years the National Skip Hire Association has seen a steady increase in membership as increasing numbers of skip hire operators wish to present themselves as professional, credible and legal members of the industry.
The result of this increase in membership is that the task of finding a reliable and approved skip hire company locally is becoming easier for customers and minimising the risk of them unwittingly facing the possibility of a fine or even a custodial sentence by engaging an unlicenced, illegal carrier to collect and dispose of the waste placed in their skip.