Renfrewshire Council

DIY waste

What DIY waste is, what to do if you did the building or renovation work yourself, what to do if you paid someone else to do the work, other options.

What DIY waste is

DIY waste is waste created when doing building or renovation work in your home or garden.

According to law, DIY waste is considered 'non-household waste'. For that reason, we do not collect this type of waste from your home.


If you did the building or renovation work yourself

If you did the building or renovation work yourself, you can bring certain amounts of DIY waste to our household waste recycling centres (HWRCs):

Non-recyclable DIY waste

Non-recyclable DIY waste is limited to 2 x 50-litre bags at all HWRCs.

Recyclable DIY waste

Recyclable DIY waste includes materials such as wood and scrap metal.

  • Erskine, Paisley, and Renfrew HWRCs: you can bring an unlimited about of recyclable DIY waste.
  • Linwood HWRC: limited to 8 x 50-litre bags of recyclable DIY waste.
  • Johnstone HWRC: you can bring an unlimited amount of recyclable DIY waste, except for wood, which you cannot bring to this HWRC. You can bring wood to any of the other HWRCs.

You do not actually have to bag all of your waste. The 50-litre bag reference is just so you know the size or volume of waste you can bring to each HWRC.

We cannot take plasterboard at any of our HWRCs. See what you can dispose of at our HWRCs.


If you paid someone to do the building or renovation work

If you paid someone to do the building or renovation work, such as a joiner or other tradesperson, you cannot bring this DIY waste to our household waste recycling centres.

The person who did the work is legally responsible for removing the waste from your site as part of their service to you.


Other options

If you did the building or renovation work yourself, you can order a bulky waste collection from your home.

You can hire a skip or use a private waste disposal contractor to remove your DIY waste.

See a list of registered waste carriers and brokers (SEPA website).

You could also post your building materials on social media or online marketplaces to see if someone wants to collect them for free.

If you have any questions, contact us: