10 Weirdest Things Ever Found in Skips

Skips are a thrill, really. Some broken tiles, garden scraps, and a chair that looks like it lost a fight with time. But every so often, someone throws something in that makes you stop and say, “Sorry, what?” 😳

Because, people? People can be… strange sometimes. 

Here are 10 of the absolute weirdest things people have ever tossed into skips and rubbish removal hauls. Trust us, you won’t look at your skip the same way again.

1. A Shoe Full of Cash

In Ireland, a recycling worker discovered a lone shoe in a skip, and inside it was €1,500 in cash 💶. Turns out, it belonged to a woman with Alzheimer’s, and her daughter accidentally tossed it during a house cleanup. The money made it back to the rightful owner. The insides of your trainers – who knew that’s one more place you should check before skip collection day? 

2. A Whole Caravan (Yes, Really)

Over in Wales, skip hire staff showed up for a normal job and found a whole caravan perched on top of the skip. Not inside. On top! The driver understandably refused collection until it was dismantled. We still don’t know how the customer got it up there. A forklift? Witchcraft? We’ll never know. 

3. Radioactive watches

A professional rubbish scavenger discovers that the watch he found is actually radioactive.  Turns out, the dials were painted with a high amount of radium, which happened before 1960. Technically not dangerous, unless you decide to keep it next to your bed for the next 40 years.

4. A Coffin (Casually Chucked)

In 2007, someone tossed a full-sized coffin into a skip. There was nobody inside, thankfully (phew!). But there was also no explanation. Who bought it? Who dumped it? What happened to the person it was for? It’s like an unsolved Netflix documentary! 

5. Ancient Human Bones

Builders in Bristol accidentally unearthed human bones from what’s believed to be an ancient cemetery located at a construction site and chucked them straight into a skip. History says thank you, but archaeologists say please stop doing this.

6. A Photo Album With a Knife in it

A student working at a landfill once watched a mysterious man in a black Cadillac throw a book into the animal pit. It turned out to be a photo album with a knife stabbed straight through the middle. We don’t know the backstory, but if that’s not the start of a horror movie, we don’t know what is.

7. Urns of Human Ashes

In 2016, a recycling facility in Motherwell, Scotland, found urns with actual human ashes on a conveyor belt after they were dumped into a skip. Miraculously, they tracked down the granddaughter of the deceased and returned them the same day. Still, let’s not make this a habit, okay? But the real question is: Why did they throw it out? 

8. Iconic Music Award

In 2013, an Ivor Novello award turned up in a skip in London. Yes, the same award handed to UK icons like Adele, The Beatles, and Freddie Mercury. No, the music scene hadn’t collapsed. As it turns out, it was just a display model! (phew)

9.  £100 Million in Stolen Art in a Skip

Some people hang their stolen art. Others freak out and throw it into a skip. In 2010, after pulling off a heist at Paris’s Musée d’Art Moderne, a thief panicked and dumped their stolen paintings worth £100 million into a skip. Picasso, Matisse, gone. This is why we can’t have nice things.

10. A Treasure Trove of Matchbox Cars

One lucky family uncovered a large, dusty box packed with vintage Matchbox cars. These are the tiny legends that ruled the toy world before Hot Wheels rolled onto the scene. They got them appraised and discovered they were worth £3,000 to £5,000 (around $4,000 to $7,000). This is a reminder to always prepare for rubbish removal. 

So… What Shouldn’t You Toss Into a Skip?🚫🗑️

Needless to say, none of the above should have ended up in a skip. Not only because they were emotional, valuable, or potentially explosive, but also because there are actual rules around what you can and can’t put in a skip.

Here’s a quick guide:

Please Don’t Put These on Your Skip:

• Hazardous items like batteries ( recycle them here instead)
• Electronics like laptops, TVs, phones (but these are accepted by rubbish removal)
• Valuables like cash, albums, collectibles
• Confidential or legal documents (learn why keeping files organized is a life-changer here)
• Medical or biohazard waste (you need specialists for that)
• Human waste –  including bones obviously!

Instead: 

• 🎁 Donate what’s still usable
• ♻️ Recycle through proper facilities. Locate them using this map. For electronic waste, click this recycling center locator to find nearby drop-off points where you can recycle your e-rubbish for free! 
• 📞 Call a licensed operator if you’re not sure

Check out this guide to what to put in a skip if you’re still unsure.

Why It Matters: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle (Seriously)

We joke around, but proper waste disposal helps prevent:

• • • Land and water contamination 
    • Injuries to workers
    • Fires
    • Lost heirlooms
    • Cursed ghost coffins showing up in landfills

Here’s a wake-up call: about 80% of household waste is recyclable, yet only 45% actually gets recycled. That’s a mountain of perfectly reusable stuff ending up in skips or incinerators every single day!

Reducing and reusing waste is one of the ways to practice responsible waste management. It saves materials, spares time, and keeps useful items out of the trash fires. And if you’re feeling a bit crafty, upcycling can turn old items into something useful again! Like turning jars into storage or giving old furniture a fresh coat of paint. 

Practice responsible waste disposal and please keep the weird stuff (or at least break it down). 

Done Decluttering? Call the Pros

If you’ve got waste to clear and don’t want to accidentally commit a felony or spark a ghost story, leave it to the skip and rubbish removal experts. 

Prefer a hands-off cleanout? Learn about our rubbish removal service. We’ll take care of  the heavy work and recycle over 95% of what we collect.

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