HAMPSHIRE’S household waste recycling centres will be introducing a charge for soil and rubble, plasterboard and asbestos from October 1.

Soil and rubble, which is usually created from construction, alteration or repair of homes and gardens, will be charged at £2.50 per part or whole 30-litre bag, or per item.

The county council will also be implementing a charge for plasterboard and cement-bonded asbestos. Plasterboard, which is accepted at all sites, will be charged at £10 per sheet, or £6 per 30-litre bag. Cement-bonded asbestos, which will continue to only be accepted at Andover, Basingstoke, Efford, Netley and Portsmouth, will be charged at £12 per sheet. No other type of asbestos is permitted. Cash and card payment options will be available at each centre.

Rob Humby, the county council’s executive member for environment and transport, said: “Managing Hampshire’s waste costs all the councils in the county around £100m each year and, coupled with ongoing reductions in Government funding, we needed to look carefully at how we deal with and pay for waste. This type of DIY and construction waste is particularly expensive to dispose of, costing Hampshire’s council taxpayers around £1m each year.

“This new charge is being introduced from October 1 to cover the additional costs of disposing DIY and construction waste compared to household waste, which we believe is the fairest way for as many as possible, and which residents told us they support.

“Many authorities elsewhere in the UK already charge for this type of waste to cover their cost of its disposal, and Hampshire will now be doing the same.”

And Mr Humby added: “If you are due to start a large renovation project, I would suggest looking at the cost of hiring a skip versus multiple trips to your local household waste recycling centre with items that you will be charged for. However, I would stress that these charges apply to the specified waste types only and no householder will be expected to pay for normal household waste, green garden waste or recyclable materials such as scrap metal or glass.”

Soil and rubble includes construction and demolition materials such as stone, clay, concrete, bricks, blocks, sand, tiles, paving slabs, and ceramic bathroom suites. There will be no charge for crockery or clay or terracotta flower pots. The limit of six bags of soil and rubble per household per month will be lifted.

The charges follow a public consultation in 2014 in which 6,500 people responded to proposals on how to meet savings the county council is required to make. A further consultation, which took place this year, looked at cost savings in other areas such as changing opening hours, trade waste charges, and the possibility of charging for other non-household materials.

Hampshire recycling centres will also be accepting trade waste from small and medium-sized businesses on a chargeable basis from October 1, accepting the same materials that the sites currently accept from residents.