Hippo Bag Collection Review: Household Waste

Here's my honest review of our recent hippo bag collection experience and how it compares to skips we've hired in the past.

Disclaimer: This is a paid collaborative AD with Hippowaste. It is completely honest and all opinions are my own.

Since moving into our renovation home in 2014, we're now almost on a first-name basis with our local household waste recycling centre. And they always ask whether I've brought my dog with me.

But throwing away household waste hasn't been and isn't always a smooth process though. In the beginning, we had problems with their no-van policy until we legally converted it to a campervan. This has drastically helped our situation.

However, other limits that have made things difficult is that we can only take a bag or two of rubble or soil a month. You can find your local recycling centre's limits here. And after ripping up our old concrete driveway to lay gravel, we found we had way more than a skipful to dispose of.

So we did what any normal person would do. We chucked the rest of it for now behind the back of our shed. I had good intentions of taking one or two bags a month to my local HWRC, but it wasn't feasible.

It would simply take too many trips and knew the money spent on petrol wasn't worth it. And with it being at the back of the shed, it didn't appear as an issue.

That was until I noticed we had water starting to come in from the many storms this year. So when Hippobag got in touch, we knew exactly what we'd use it for to prevent the shed from rotting. And if you're new to their service too, I'll share with you what to expect and what we thought.

Hippo Bag Collection Service Vs a Skip Hire

First, let's talk about the benefits. One of the most painful parts of ordering a metal skip hire service is deciding where it should go on the front of your home. And once it's down, it's so heavy you can't move it. With a hippo bag, you can order it online for postal delivery or pick it up in a shop.

And once it's arrived, it's so lightweight, you can walk around with it. This gave us more time to decide where to position it while still ensuring it was within 4 metres of a public highway. Another key thing we found important, was that from the ordering to Hippo bag collection stage, it requires no physical contact or signatures whatsoever.

You also have the option to purchase the bag alone, or the combined bag and collection fee together. Also purchasing a combined service, your waste collection is valid for 6 months. This means you have more flexibility of how long you want to fill it over a period of time. Normally a with a skip hire cost, you can only have it for something like a 2-week period.

Where Can I Place my Hippo Bag?

With any waste collection service, you must check their specific guidelines. For example, we already knew that we would require a permit from our local council if we wanted to put waste on our grass verge. Otherwise, they may penalise you.

With Hippowaste's guidelines, we also ensured our bag was:

• Placed within 4 metres (13 feet) of a public highway
• The public highway was at least 4m wide for easy lorry access (*think fire engine size)
• Not positioned where a 26-tonne lorry could damage block paving
• Well clear of any walls, trees, parked cars, overhead wires, etc

Also, if in doubt, (and from experience), I now always check with every lorry based company of anything slightly unusual, such as:

• Any obstructions
• Distances
• Slopes
• Soft ground

Choosing the Right Hippobag for Your Household Waste

Now depending on what your household waste is, there are three types of Hippobags to choose from. These are:

• Midibag (S):
  (L)90cm x (W)90cm x (H)90cm. Weight allowance: 1 tonne - ideal for rubble, heavy soil and builder's waste as is our case.
  Note: they advise that:
  Heavy soil = ⅔ per bag
  Rubble = ¾ bag
  Builder's waste = level bag
  
• Megabag (M):
  (L)180cm x (W)90cm x (H)70cm. Weight allowance: 1.5 tonnes - designed for larger items, such as a bath, sink, etc
  
• Hipposkip (L):
  (L)210cm x (W)165cm x (H)100cm. Weight allowance: 1.5 tonnes - designed for things such as heavy appliances (ie, washing machines, etc).

What Type of Household Waste Is Prohibited?

Due to potentially hazardous substances or specialist wastes, here's a list of what cannot be disposed of in your Hippobag. And please see added notes of where you may have a surcharge. So if in doubt, always check before purchasing. You can contact them on the following phone number with any questions 08458500850:

• Asbestos
• Batteries
• Clinical waste
• Corrosive substances
• Explosives
• Fluorescent tubes
• Food waste (includes uncooked meat)
• Fridge and freezers
• Gas bottles
• Human/ Animal waste
• Irritants
• Large tree roots
• Liquid waste, such as oil and paint
• Mattresses (may incur a surcharge)
• Motor tyres
• Oily rags and motor parts
• Paint tins (unless unlidded and empty)
• Powders (ie cement, sawdust and gypsum)
• Needles and other sharps
• Sodium lamps
• TVs and monitors such as computer/laptop screens
• Toxic substances

Also, as an Environment Agency legislation, you cannot mix plasterboard with any other waste streams. However, Hippo do accept it if it's kept clean and bagged or wrapped up separately from the other waste. This is particularly important as it often breaks down into a powder, making it difficult to separate during the waste recovery process.

How Does The Hippobag Arrive?

When ordering our Midibag by Hippo Waste, the delivery was swift and came in the post.

There was no need to sign for anything and it was small enough to be posted through our letterbox.

It can also be purchased in stores, such as Wickes, B&Q, Travis Perkins, Homebase and many others.

How Strong is a Hippobag?

If you've ever ordered or seen a tonne bag of gravel, the service feels like this, but in reverse. And the tightly weaved bags are so strong, you can see one here picking up a car.

However, here are a few tips to follow:

• Try to buy the right size bag
• Don't overfill or overload them
• Avoid sharp objects
• Don't fill with waste in the list further above the page

How to Arrange a Hippobag Waste Collection

Remember that after purchasing your bag, you must fill and arrange for collection within a 6 months. To arrange your Hippo bag waste collection, you can contact them during Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays.

They are usually open between 8am to 6pm, but may be extended in peak seasons. Once you've requested a collection, Hippo aim to collect within 5 working days. However, ours was within two.

Again, you will need to ensure there are no obstructions or cars in the way seven days a week. Even if anyone isn't in as we didn't need to be present for our household waste to be collected. In fact, I only stepped out of the house to take photos of how our Midibag was collected.

How the Back of the Shed Looks Now

Firstly, to clear the rubble at the back of the shed, we place into bags and carried them to the Hippobag. I think most have a stash they'd like to reuse and reduce the amount of plastic. And also, we found it easier than manoeuvring a wheelbarrow on gravel.

We also dug out and cleared much of the heavy soil that had towered above the base of the shed. So after digging to base level, the wood is no longer in contact with wet soil.

Once dry, we'll be able to clean and treat it again. And I've since temporarily placed some spare patio slabs on top. This is until I can source more hardcore, sand and compact it until level. But for now, it's purely so we don't get out feet muddy when accessing the back.

Our Hippo Bag Collection Verdict

If you don't like talking to people or you live a very busy life, we love the easy purchase option. Also, the combined service of a bag and future collection is great to take advantage of a fixed price.

We've had a few issues in the past where skip hire companies had their lorry dog-leg stuck in the grass verge or refusing to crane over low 3ft brick walls. But the whole process was smooth from start to finish. That is, providing you follow the terms and conditions.

We would definitely use this service again.