How can I dispose of heavy bags of solidified plaster?

[HailinMay]

I've just had some damp proofing/plastering work done in my living room. To be fair, the plasterer has done a good job and it's probably the least messy (in the house) plastering experience I've had.

However, it emerged during the work that he wouldn't dispose of the debris and excess plaster etc. Doesn't have the requisite licence to enable disposal etc. Very annoying and lesson learned for me to clarify this in advance, however I now don't know what to do!

He's bagged it all up and I can dispose of plasterboard and debris at my local tip, a couple of bags at a time but that'll be OK. However there are about 4 or 5 bags of what I can only describe as balls of solidified plaster. What on earth do I do with these, I can barely lift one of them!

He's piled it neatly outside. I've done some googling but keep coming up with plasterboard disposal which isn't the tricky bit.

Any thoughts on what to do? Thank you.

Also take it to the tip it's just big rubble, if it's too heavy break them up with a chisel and hammer and wear goggles, if it's really solid you might have to drill a hole to hammer into. Most tips seem to have a limit on DIY rubble so you may have to dispose of it gradually.

I think most tips charge for rubble and plasterboard.
I thought tradesmen were required by law to take away their detritus?

There will be a 'rubble' section at your tip, it belongs there. You might have to pay though - at my tip it's £2/bag, so not too bad!

Not all tips accept rubble- best to check first. Our council have 2 out of 4 or 5 tips that do, it’s specified on their website.

If you pay someone to collect it, make sure they have a license. There’s so much fly tipping of that kind of stuff around where we live, it’s ridiculous.

Can you not hire a skip?

Check with your local tip if they'll accept it, and you can rope someone in to help you lift them. If not you need a skip, or a waste collection company, with a valid license.

Plaster contains sulphur, and may not be accepted as "rubble" because it is damaging to concrete, for example if mixed into hardcore. Your local tip will know the rules.

If you have a large garden, on a clay soil, you can break it up and rake it in. It lightens the clay and makes it granular.

your options are obvious

• take it to your tip yourself, breaking it into small amounts if you need to. I would be amazed (disappointed) if your council does not charge you for doing so. Plaster is not defined as household waste and therefore council tips are not required to accept it for free, so have limits on how much you can bring.

• You pay a licenced waste disposal company to collect and remove. Whether you do that as a man in van, hire a skip, hire a "hippo bag" is your choice.

(My county council tips record car registrations and number of visits per year so they can limit you to 2 bags and one plasterboard sheet for free and then bags of plaster (max size 50x77cm) are £5.60 each and .£12 per sheet.)

Most domestic waste tips do not accept plasterboard or plaster, as it's not supposed to go to landfill, when it decomposes it generates flammable /toxic gas so needs to be disposed of properly. In this case you need a licensed waste carrier to take it to a proper site for disposal. Make sure you see the waste carrier license and get a receipt.

This is really helpful, thank you.

In my Council area, three of the eight tips will accept plasterboard and rubble - 2 bags max if each at any one time and only one visit per week. They don’t charge but you need to show proof of residence. Two of the tips are relatively convenient for me.

i’ll take some of the other rubble down tomorrow and ask was their stance is on the solid plaster.

Break it up into smaller pieces with a hammer and chisel. Put in multiple black bags. Take to tip and put in the non recyclable section.

Through a secret hole in her trousers pockets?