Leeds refuses tarmac and asphalt outright, refuses forklift, caterpillar track, earth moving and any industrial tyre, is temporarily refusing fridges and freezers, and refuses all trade and business waste from a named list of nine trades. On top of the refusals sits a cap most people never read: DIY waste is limited to four visits a month and each visit is two 50 litre bags or one item no bigger than 2m by 0.75m. Kruze clears what Leeds turns away, across Leeds and West Yorkshire, from £24.99, under Waste Carrier Licence CBDU597687. Call or WhatsApp 07436 120271.

What Leeds City Council refuses, in full

Leeds publishes its refusals in two places, and the two lists do different jobs.

The first is a straight ban. “Tarmac and asphalt are not accepted at our household waste recycling centres.” No quantity works, no site takes it, there is no booking that unlocks it. The same page refuses forklift tyres, caterpillar tracks, earth moving tyres, or any form of industrial tyre, again at every site and in any quantity.

The second is a cap that behaves like a ban once your job is big enough. DIY waste is limited to four visits per month per household, and a visit means two 50 litre bags maximum, or one large item up to 2m by 0.75m. Two 50 litre bags is two rubble sacks. That is the whole visit.

Separately, fridges and freezers are not being accepted at all at the moment. Leeds says it is “temporarily unable to accept fridges and freezers at our household waste recycling centres due to a national shortage of specialist processing facilities.” Checked on 1 September 2026 and again on 14 September 2026, still in force. Our Leeds tip opening times guide goes through all eight sites one by one, including the two with a Revive reuse shop and the one that is taking far less than the rest.

Tarmac and asphaltRefused outright. Every site, any quantity
Forklift, caterpillar track, earth moving, any industrial tyreRefused outright
Fridges and freezersRefused, temporarily. National shortage of processing capacity
AsbestosNot at any recycling centre. Kirkstall only, booked 48 hours ahead, charged
Trade or business wasteRefused. Nine trades named by Leeds
DIY waste allowance4 visits a month, each 2 x 50 litre bags or 1 item max 2m x 0.75m
Car and motorcycle tyres4 of each, above that refused
Arriving on footNot allowed. Car, bicycle or a permitted commercial vehicle

Sources: Leeds City Council and the same council’s site rules.

The catch: The refusal that actually stops people is a size limit, not a banned item

Ask anyone in Leeds what the tip will not take and they will say asbestos or a fridge. Neither is the thing that sends people home.

It is two 50 litre bags. Strip one small bathroom and you have more rubble than that before you have touched the floor. Take down a garden wall and you are at the limit inside ten minutes. The four visits a month sounds generous right up to the moment you work out that four visits is eight rubble sacks, spread across a month, in your own car, on the council’s opening hours.

A limit that low is not really about capacity. It is a trade waste filter written as a volume rule, and it catches every honest householder doing a genuine home improvement at exactly the same time it catches the trader it was aimed at.

Leeds names the nine trades, and names the penalty

Most councils say “no trade waste” and leave you to work out whether you count. Leeds does not.

It refuses waste from work done by builders, plasterers, landscapers, gardeners, plumbers, joiners, glaziers, electricians and decorators, and separately refuses waste from property developers, landlords, or waste generated by tradespersons. Then it states the consequence in one line: “If you take trade or business waste to a household waste recycling centre you could be fined or imprisoned.”

Read that against a normal Saturday. A plumber replaces your bathroom and leaves the old suite in the drive. That waste was generated by a tradesperson, so Leeds refuses it, and it stays refused when you are the one who drives it there. The origin of the waste decides, not the driver.

What Kruze takes, and what it does not

We are not a way round the rules and we would not sell ourselves as one. Everything Leeds refuses on public health or licensing grounds we also refuse, or we broker to somebody licensed for it.

What we do take that Leeds will not: tarmac and asphalt, loads far past two 50 litre bags, fridges and freezers while the council suspension lasts, waste produced by a tradesperson, and anything you cannot fit in a car. Single items start at £24.99, a quarter van load at £50, and a full house clearance at £150.

What we do not do: licensed asbestos removal. We collect cement bonded asbestos and take it to a licensed specialist under our carrier and broker registration, and we issue the consignment note. Stripping sprayed coatings, lagging or insulating board is HSE licensed work and needs a licensed contractor. If that is your job we will tell you and we will not quote.

Leeds tip or Kruze, honestly

Use Leeds City Council when your load genuinely fits inside two 50 litre bags, you have a car, and it is not on the refused list. Four visits a month is enough for a normal household tidy and it costs you nothing. Do that before you pay us or anybody else.

Use a licensed carrier when the answer to any of these is yes. The load is bigger than eight rubble sacks. It is tarmac. It came out of paid work. It is a fridge, while the suspension lasts. You do not have a car, or you have one but not the back of it. Those are not soft preferences, they are the four cases where the council route is closed rather than inconvenient.

A worked example. A small bathroom rip-out, so an old suite, tiles and about six rubble sacks.

Leeds City Council: Over the limit on day one. Six sacks against a two sack visit, so three separate trips minimum.

Frequently asked questions

What will Leeds tip not take at all?

Tarmac and asphalt, forklift and caterpillar track and earth moving and industrial tyres, and any trade or business waste. Fridges and freezers are also refused at the moment under a temporary national suspension. Asbestos is not refused but cannot go to a recycling centre, it goes to Kirkstall by appointment and is charged for.

How much DIY waste can I take to a Leeds tip?

Four visits per month per household. Each visit is two 50 litre bags maximum, or one large item up to 2m by 0.75m. That is roughly two rubble sacks a trip, so eight in a month.

Why will Leeds not take tarmac?

Leeds does not publish a reason, it publishes the refusal. Tarmac and asphalt are bound with bitumen, which is a different waste stream from clean hardcore, and a recycling centre that mixes the two contaminates the load it can otherwise sell on.

Can I take my builder’s rubbish to the tip if I drive it myself?

No. Leeds refuses waste generated by tradespersons regardless of who transports it. The waste keeps the status it had when it was produced, and driving it yourself does not turn trade waste back into household waste.

Get the refused stuff shifted in Leeds

Send a photo on WhatsApp with the load in shot. We will tell you honestly whether Leeds will take it for nothing, and quote for it if they will not.

Call or WhatsApp 07436 120271.

Written by Sandeep KV, Founder of Kruze. Kruze is a licensed waste carrier and broker based in Leeds, Waste Carrier Licence CBDU597687, serving Leeds, Bradford, Halifax, Huddersfield, Wakefield, Harrogate and Barnsley. Call or WhatsApp 07436 120271.

What the tip refuses in the other six towns

Every council in our area refuses something different, and several refuse things Leeds accepts. Here is the same question answered for the other six towns.

More on tipping in Leeds

Not got a car, or more than the tip will take in one visit? Rubbish removal in Leeds starts at £24.99 and we do the lifting.