The weight limit is what actually catches people
A skip bin has two limits and only one of them is printed on the side. The cubic metres are the easy one. The weight allowance is the one that gets a bin refused, surcharged, or left on your nature strip because the truck cannot legally lift it.
General household waste weighs almost nothing, around 150 kg a cubic metre. Soil weighs about ten times that. Broken concrete weighs more again. So a 4 m³ bin that swallows a garage clean-out without noticing will be over its weight allowance on a metre and a half of clay.
| What it is | Rough loose weight | What that means |
|---|---|---|
| Mixed household | ~150 kg per m³ | Volume is the limit. Fill it. |
| Green waste | ~250 kg per m³ | Volume is the limit, but branches pack badly. |
| Timber, plasterboard, strip-out | ~300 kg per m³ | Volume usually still the limit. |
| Soil, sand, clay | ~1,500 kg per m³ | Weight is the limit. Ask for a heavy-waste bin. |
| Bricks, concrete, tiles | ~1,600 kg per m³ | Weight is the limit, hard. Usually 2 to 4 m³ only. |
Most operators hire heavy waste in small bins on purpose, 2 m³, 3 m³, sometimes 4 m³, and will not put a 10 m³ bin on a driveway for a concrete job. That is not them being difficult. It is the truck's axle loading.
The standard sizes, and what each one really holds
| Size | Trailer loads | Wheelie bins | The job it suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 m³ | 2 | 8 | Declutter, one room, a small garden tidy |
| 3 m³ | 3 | 12 | Bathroom strip-out, big garden clean-up |
| 4 m³ | 4 | 16 | Garage clear-out, small kitchen |
| 6 m³ | 6 | 24 | Kitchen reno, deck removal, house tidy before a sale |
| 8 to 10 m³ | 8 to 10 | 32 to 40 | Whole-house clear-out, big renovation |
| 12 m³ and up | 12+ | 48+ | Deceased estate, hoarder clean, builder's strip-out |
Not every operator carries every size, and the 5 m³ and 9 m³ bins exist in some yards and not others. If your number lands between two sizes, go up. A second bin costs a second delivery, and a bin you cannot close is a bin that gets refused.
How big is each bin on the ground?
What a bin holds and where it fits are different questions, and the second one is why driveways matter. These are one Sydney operator's published dimensions, read 3 October 2026. Yours will differ a little, so check your operator's chart against the spot before the truck comes, and remember the truck needs room above the bin to lift it.
| Size | Length | Width | Height |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 m³ | 1.8 m | 1.5 m | 0.9 m |
| 3 m³ | 2.6 m | 1.5 m | 1.0 m |
| 4 m³ | 3.3 m | 1.5 m | 1.0 m |
| 6 m³ | 3.7 m | 1.6 m | 1.4 m |
| 9 m³ | 4.2 m | 1.6 m | 1.5 m |
| 12 m³ | 4.6 m | 1.6 m | 1.8 m |
Two reads worth doing off that table. A 6 m³ bin is only about half a metre longer than a 4 m³, the extra volume is mostly height, so the space question barely changes while the capacity jumps. And a 1.4m wall is about chest height, so from 6 m³ up you are lifting over, not tipping in, which is worth knowing before you book one for a day of solo barrow runs.
Dimensions from Freddy's Skip Bins, published size chart, read 3 October 2026.
Wheelie bin sizes, how many litres and how big
A standard kerbside wheelie bin is 240 litres, and most councils also hand out 140 L and 360 L. Here is one Queensland council’s published table, the bins it delivers to a new house.
| Bin | Depth | Width | Height |
|---|---|---|---|
| 140 L | 615 mm | 535 mm | 915 mm |
| 240 L, the standard size | 730 mm | 585 mm | 1,006 mm |
| 360 L | 848 mm | 680 mm | 1,100 mm |
A 240 L bin is 0.24 m³, so four of them are 0.96 m³. The calculator counts each as 0.25 m³, the round figure skip companies use, because a bin with the lid propped open holds a bit more than its rating. If you have 360 L bins, count each one as one and a half.
Source, Logan City Council, New bins for a new house, read 26 October 2026. Your council’s bins may differ by a few millimetres.
A worked example
A kitchen renovation, three trailer loads of cabinetry and packaging, four wheelie bins of offcuts, and a stacked pile of old benchtop about 2 m × 0.6 m × 0.4 m.
- Trailers, 3 × 1 = 3.00 m³
- Bins, 4 × 0.25 = 1.00 m³
- Pile, 2 × 0.6 × 0.4 = 0.48 m³
- Total loose, 4.48 m³, plus 15% for awkward stacking = 5.15 m³
- Next standard size, 6 m³
- Weight, 5.15 × 150 kg = about 770 kg, comfortably inside a 6 m³ bin's allowance
Same job with a tiled floor going in as well, say 2 m³ of tile and screed, and the weight is the problem, not the space. 2 × 1,600 = 3.2 tonnes on its own. That is a separate heavy-waste bin.
Three things that change the answer
- Fill height. Most operators will not carry a bin loaded above the rim, because the load has to be covered and legally restrained. Plan on filling to the top rail, not above it.
- What you cannot put in. Asbestos, tyres, paint, gas bottles, batteries and fridges with gas are refused or need a separate arrangement almost everywhere. Asbestos in particular is licensed work and a licensed disposal stream, never a general skip.
- Where it sits. A bin on a council footpath or road usually needs a council permit, and the permit takes longer to get than the bin does to arrive. On your own driveway, no permit, but check the driveway will take the weight.
Other calculators you'll want
General information for Australian homeowners and trades, and an estimate only, not legal advice, and not planning or building advice, and not a substitute for a waste operator's own sizing and weight allowance. A calculator works out a quantity from the figures you enter. There is no Australian Standard for skip bin sizing, the trailer and wheelie-bin equivalence is what Australian skip hire companies publish, and the packing allowances and loose densities are rules of thumb, not a specification. Weight limits, accepted waste and permit rules vary by operator and by council. Asbestos is licensed work and must never go in a general skip. No regulator has reviewed this page.