Skip containing rubbish 16s06.jpg A skip (occasionally rubbish skip and in American English classed as a type of dumpster) is a large open-topped container designed for loading onto a special type of lorry. Skips are commonly used to hold open topped loads of construction and demolition waste or other waste types.

The construction debris originates from a building site where something is being built or renovated or demolished. Skips are also used for various cleaning-out jobs that need much material to be taken away. The material in the skip may be taken to a landfill, recycled or disposed/recovered of in some other way.

One end of the skip sometimes has a large door that hinges down to allow manual unloading, or manual loading.

Skips are picked up and carried and deposited by a special skip carrying lorry. When being carried, the skip should be covered. Also, the skip can be lifted by a crane.

Building supplies can be delivered to site in a skip, which is later used to carry the site's waste away.

It has been known for an empty skip to be lifted high by a crane and used as an emergency platform for rescue workers to work from.

Other meanings

The word skip is used for various large open-topped containers, including the load-carrying part of a dumper.