One cubic metre is a cube one metre on each side, about the space a washing machine takes up plus a couple of full garbage bags. A 2m³ load is a small trailer, a 5m³ load is a single garage’s worth of clutter, and 7m³ is a full truck. Because Eco Junk Removals prices by volume, knowing which of those you have tells you your price before you pick up the phone: $240, $600 or $840 flat for household junk.
Most people overestimate a little. That’s fine. This guide shows what each size actually looks like, with real jobs from around Sydney, so you can match your pile to a load and a price.
The three load sizes at a glance
| Load | Volume | Household price | Everyday comparison |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small | 2m³ | $240 | A 6×4 box trailer, heaped |
| Medium | 5m³ | $600 | The contents of a cluttered single garage |
| Full truck | 7m³ | $840 | A one-bedroom unit clear-out, or a whole house declutter |
Green waste is $200 / $500 / $700 and construction waste is $320 / $800 / $1,120 for the same three sizes. Every waste type has its own guide with photos: household, green waste, construction.
What 2 cubic metres looks like
Picture a standard 6×4 box trailer with the load heaped above the sides. That’s roughly 2m³.
Typical 2m³ jobs:
- A three-seater lounge, a coffee table and six boxes
- A queen bed frame, a mattress (plus the $110 mattress fee) and two bedside tables
- A fridge, a washing machine and a microwave
- A bathroom rip-out: old vanity, toilet, bath and a pile of tiles (construction rate)
- Six to eight garbage bags of garden clippings plus a few branches (green waste rate)
This is our minimum job. If you have less than 2m³, you still pay the 2m³ price, so it’s worth adding anything else you’ve been meaning to get rid of.
What 5 cubic metres looks like
Open the door of a single garage that hasn’t been cleared in years. The old furniture along the back wall, the boxes stacked in the corner, the broken bikes, the exercise equipment, the tins of paint on the shelf. That’s a 5m³ load.
Typical 5m³ jobs:
- A full garage or shed clean-out
- A bedroom plus a living room of furniture before a move
- A kitchen renovation rip-out: cabinets, benchtop, appliances, packaging (construction rate)
- A large hedge or several small trees cut and stacked (green waste rate)
- A small office fit-out: desks, chairs, partitions, filing cabinets
Five cubic metres is the most common load we do, and at $600 it’s usually cheaper than the equivalent skip once you count your own time loading it.
What 7 cubic metres looks like
A full truck. Think of everything in a one-bedroom unit, or the accumulated contents of a family home’s spare room, garage and under-house storage.
Typical 7m³ jobs:
- An end-of-lease or deceased estate clear-out of a small unit
- A whole-house declutter before selling
- A full internal strip-out of a bathroom and kitchen together (construction rate)
- A large deck or pergola demolition (construction rate)
- A big backyard clean-up with years of overgrowth (green waste rate)
Bigger than 7m³? We run multiple trucks or multiple trips. Send photos and we’ll quote the whole job. No job is too big.
The difference from a skip bin: we lift, we load, we dispose
Every price on this page includes the part a skip bin leaves to you. With a skip, you pay for the bin, then you carry every item out of the house, lift it over the side, stack it so it fits, and the bin sits on your driveway for a week before it’s collected. If it’s half empty, you paid for air. If it’s over the rim, they won’t take it.
With Eco Junk Removals:
- We lift. The crew carries everything from where it is: the back of the garage, the top floor, the backyard, the storage cage. You don’t touch a thing.
- We load. It goes straight onto the truck, packed properly, so you only pay for the volume that’s actually there.
- We dispose. The load is sorted at the tip into timber, metal, green waste, e-waste and general waste, so as much as possible is recycled. See where your rubbish actually goes.
No bin on the driveway, no council permit for street placement, no waiting a week for pickup, and same-day service across Sydney. That’s what $240, $600 or $840 buys: the whole job, not just the box.
How to measure your own pile in 30 seconds
- Pace it out. Roughly how many metres long and wide is the pile? A big stride is about one metre.
- Estimate the height. Knee height is roughly half a metre, waist height about one metre.
- Multiply. Length × width × height. A pile 2m long, 1m wide and 1m high is 2m³.
- Round down for loose items, up for dense stacks. Furniture has air in it; bricks and soil don’t.
Or skip the maths: take one photo from a few metres back and send it to 0434 503 788. We’ve looked at thousands of piles and can usually tell within a cubic metre.
Why volume, not weight, for household jobs
Skip bins and tips charge by weight because that’s how the landfill levy works. We charge by volume for household and green waste because it’s predictable: you can see 5m³, you can’t see 600kg. The exception is construction waste, where bricks, tiles and soil are so heavy that the tip fees change the maths, which is why it has its own per-metre rate.
Frequently asked questions
How much is 2 cubic metres of rubbish?
About a heaped 6×4 box trailer: a lounge, a coffee table and a few boxes, or a fridge and a washing machine. Eco Junk Removals charges $240 flat for a 2m³ household load.
What does 5 cubic metres of junk look like?
The contents of a cluttered single garage, or a bedroom and living room of furniture. $600 flat for household junk.
How big is a 7m³ load?
A full truck: a one-bedroom unit clear-out or a whole-house declutter. $840 flat for household junk.
What if I’m not sure what size I have?
Send a photo of the pile and your suburb to 0434 503 788 or through the quote form and we’ll tell you.
Do you charge by weight?
Not for household or green waste. Construction waste is priced higher per cubic metre because of its weight at the tip, but still quoted as a flat load price.
What if my load is between sizes?
We quote for the volume actually loaded rather than pushing you up a tier. Send a photo and we’ll confirm the exact price before we come.
Same-day quote — call 0434 503 788 or get a quote online. See more real loads on our recent jobs page.
Most of the loads on this page are furniture. There is a full breakdown on the furniture removal page, and a couch removal page for single-item jobs.
Comparing against skip hire? Skip bin alternative sets the two side by side.
Get a flat price for your job
Send one photo of the load and your suburb, and we’ll come back with a flat price for the whole job. Or call 0434 503 788 and we’ll price it on the phone.