RESIDENTS are urged to air their views over whether North Yorkshire County Council waste recycling centres should refuse to accept non-household waste or charge for it.

The authority’s public consultation exercise over the move, which aims to save the council £330,000 a year by ending free disposal of soil, rubble and plasterboard, is due to end on December 22.

The council says the only alternative to allowing its contractors to charge for the waste disposal at its 20 sites, is to refuse non-household waste, meaning residents would need to arrange for disposal using a private waste contractor, skip hire firm, or find someone who can re-use or recycle the waste.

The council, which is aiming to complete £92m of cutbacks by March 2015 and is predicting a further £77m will need to be saved by 2019, has also asked for views on how it could cut its £5.9m household recycling centre budget in future.

Responses received in the consultation so far indicate people want the recycling centres to accept soil and rubble waste but at a charge, and this should be applied at all of the council’s household waste recycling centres, not just the larger ones.

It is also clear people think the council should treat plasterboard waste in the same way.

The council will decide in February about which option to introduce.

For details, visit the consultation page at northyorks.gov.uk/hwrcconsultation email waste.management@northyorks.gov.uk or call 0845-8727374.