waste management

GET ME OUT OF HERE!

A man, who fell asleep in a Birmingham skip, has escaped after almost being crushed to death in the back of a bin lorry.
The unnamed man had climbed into the skip during the night in the Edgbaston Street area. He awoke only after the skip was tipped into the hydraulic crusher of the lorry.
Finding himself in complete darkness, and with the walls, floor and roof moving in, he scrambled for his mobile phone and hastily dialled 999.
“Help, help. Someone is trying to kill me, I’m being crushed,” he screamed at the emergency operator.
Police immediately set off to track down the caller who had no idea where he was.
Meanwhile, back at the Montague Street depot in Aston, refuse collectors had noticed banging noises coming from inside the crusher and had also called the police. Putting two and two together, Birmingham’s finest tracked down the lorry and brought out the fire and ambulance services.
Fire crews managed to free the man after digging around in the rotting waste. He suffered only minor injuries but was badly shocked.
Highgate Fire Station Officer, Andy Burnham, described the man as “…an extremely lucky guy.”
He continued, “The other people we can remember in incidents like this have not been quite so lucky. Most people stuck in these lorries, while they are compacting, receive very serious injuries and it’s difficult to get them out.”
The man, in his 20s and believed to be of Eastern European origin, had been in a state of panic when he made his call. Once tracked down, he was attended to by the police, two fire crews, and an ambulance.
Mr Burnham said, “We managed to reverse the crushing process back at the depot and with a bit of exploration and digging around in the rubbish, the man was
helped out.”
“I think he has certainly learnt a few new English phrases after his experience.” He added.
“Mobile phone?” You might be asking. Very high class tramps in Birmingham, or what? And what does Mr Burnham mean, “The other people we can remember in incidents like this…” How often does this sort of thing happen? More often than you might think, apparently. In the same month comes this story from Lancashire…
Another unnamed man became trapped inside a large compactor skip after climbing inside. The skip, behind Lothian house off the Preston Ring Way, was locked for the night with its visitor still inside.
Police and fire fighters were called to the scene after the man made a panicked call from his mobile phone. He was rescued at around 8:15pm, uninjured, but very shaken having spent over an hour stuck inside.
Fire crews had used metal cutting equipment normally reserved to free people from car wrecks. They had removed the skip from its cradle and forced it open to let the man out.
A fire service spokesman said, “He was very lucky the compactor was not switched on or he could have been seriously injured.”
He continued, “People should steer clear.”
Wise words, mate!

August 7, 2008 at 4:53 pm | Skip Hire Industry News | No comment

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NOT A G’DAY FOR AUSSIE SKIP HIRE FIRM

A skip hire company, operating on the Australian Gold Coast, has been told to clean up or pay up after being accused of running an illegal landfill site the size of two football pitches!
Pro Skips have been hit with an environmental protection order, by The Environmental Protection Agency, for stockpiling an alleged 50,000 tonnes of waste – as well as burying waste – at their waste transfer station on Rudman Parade industrial site in Burleigh.
Andrew Connor, an EPA spokesman, said that the company had now been given two weeks to comply with the clean-up order, or face a fine of up to $750,000 (that’s about £365,000).
Failure to act would also see the owner hit with a further fine of $150,000 (£73,000) or face a two year jail sentence.
Pro Skips hold a waste removal license which permits them to drop and collect skips at construction sites, deposit recyclable waste at a transfer station and take all non-recyclable waste at a council landfill site, paying the appropriate fee.
According to the EPA, the company is failing to meet the last of these conditions.
Mr Connor said: “All businesses must undertake responsible waste management and disposal…the EPA has an obligation to take action where companies are clearly flouting environmental laws. Inappropriate management of waste may pose a hazard to both local communities and the environment and will not be tolerated.”
The size of two football pitches, hey? Perhaps Pro Skips might like to re-locate to the UK? I can think of at least two football clubs where they’re already ‘stockpiling waste’ all over the pitch and $750,000 is just the daily wage bill…!

August 6, 2008 at 4:51 pm | Skip Hire Industry News | No comment

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Alien Life Form Invades Cardiff!

A Welsh waste disposal company has cashed in on the recent UFO sightings in Cardiff by using its own ‘Alien Life Form’ to promote its green skip hire service.
ALF Viner, of GD Environmental Services in Newport, spent two days driving across South Wales dressed as a green alien in their famous Subaru skip car (as featured on the cover of The Skip, Issue 29). Alf, who’s now being referred to as an “Alien Life Form” by colleagues, spotted the opportunity to use the recent UFO sightings in a bold attempt to bolster sales for GD’s skip hire service.
Displaying a remarkable grasp of the English language, the outer-space visitor said: “It’s been a mad few days, I came into work yesterday and they had a tub of green body paint and some sponges. I knew it was going to be a long day! But it’s all been good fun and the amount of funny looks and positive comments we have received has been well worth the effort.”
GD Environmental says it has received over a hundred calls to its office from their latest promotion with the world’s fastest skip. Marketing Manager, Gerwyn Holmes, said:
“We have drummed up a tremendous amount of publicity over the last few days. Everyone in Cardiff is gripped by the recent UFO sightings and it’s been a great opportunity for us to boost sales during difficult times with the recent
credit crunch.”
The Welsh capital’s UFO frenzy began on the 7th June when three Welsh helicopter pilots claimed to have chased a UFO across the Bristol Channel. An official enquiry from the ministry of defence has begun into these peculiar sightings.
Have you had any skip-related UFO sightings? Perhaps you’ve even got a unique skip hire promotion of your own to be proud of? You know the drill – get in touch with
The Skip and claim your rightful place among these pages. Email pr@theskip.net.

August 5, 2008 at 4:47 pm | Skip Hire Industry News | No comment

Tags: alien in skip, Skip Hire Industry News, UFO, waste management

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Dumping Jack Trash

A Scarborough based skip hire company, Stabler and Sons, are providing a free skip, complete with cover, to help a customer who became a victim of ‘skip jacking’.
Teresa Merron, of Esplanade, was “furious” after a bathroom suite and other items were dumped in a skip she had hired.
She had paid for the skip for two weeks whilst renovating her new flat but was unable to use it due to the amount of other people’s rubbish that mysteriously appeared.
Ms Merron, a staff nurse at Bridlington Hospital, said:
“I’m shocked when I paid for the thing and someone else is filling it. It’s inconvenient and distressing and I was so cross.”
“It’s an inconvenience as I’ve got a lot of rubble upstairs that I can’t put in my skip. I would tell other people to get a skip with covers.”
“I phoned Scarborough Council and they told me I would be prosecuted if I took anything out and dumped it on the side of the road.”
Harry Briggs, recycling development officer for Scarborough Council, said:
“If a resident employs a private contractor to help dispose of their waste then it is the resident’s responsibility to keep it secure.”
“The council, and ultimately the council tax payer, cannot be held responsible for securing private skips within the borough.”
“While we sympathise with this resident, we have limited powers, in much the same way with regards to fly-tipping on private land.”
“If, however, a skip has been placed on the public highway and is causing a defined nuisance, for example, obstruction to other road users, then action may be undertaken by the highways authority depending upon the circumstances.”
Stabler and Sons offered to provide a smaller skip, free of charge, upon collection of the original skip. They are also providing a skip cover to scupper any further skip jacking plans.