Beginning next month truckers and the general public will have to pay a levy on garbage that is not separated.

The Ministry of works and Engineering has already sent warning notices to households and businesses.

Minister of Works and Engineering the Hon. Leonard Gibbons urged truckers in particular to heed the warnings or face the consequences.

The matter was initially broached by Mr. Gibbons a Press conference in April but no improvements have been noticed, officials said.

The fines, which come into effect on August 7, will be as follows: $100 for any load that contains waste that must be reduced in size, or transported to another facility, for example large carpets or lumber; $200 for any improperly delivered load that contains pollutants such as motor oil or fluorescent lamps; and $300 for any improperly delivered load that contains waste which is dangerous to workers or to the facility staff such as gasoline, solvents or pesticides.

The Ministry said it regretted having to impose the fines but felt they were necessary because of the increased cost of carrying out the additional work.

And it reminded the public the Tynes Bay facility was open from 7.30 a.m. to 4 p.m. from Monday through Friday and from 7.30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays for items such as household waste, cardboard, carpets, cooking oil empty aerosol cans lumber, wooden furniture, plastic cans and plastic items except PVC.

Fluorescent lights, horticultural waste, large animal carcasses, rubble soil, slaughterhouse waste, swill, tree stumps and roots, and used animal bedding can be dumped at the Marsh Folly facility which has the same operating hours as Tynes Bay, the Ministry said.

The airport dump -- which opens during the same hours from Monday through Friday, but from 8.30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday -- will take all bulky metal goods, cars, trucks, buses and motorbikes, electrical and electronic goods, empty gas cylinders, and empty fuel storage tanks, empty metal paint cans, fibreglass, tyres, paint peelings and PVC pipes, fittings and furniture.

Recyclables can be dumped at the Devon Springs Recycling Centre between 7.30 a.m. and 3.50 p.m.

Asbestos products can be disposed of at the Ministry's quarry between 7.30 a.m. and noon and 1 to 3 p.m. from Monday through Friday, while sewage can be dumped at the Septage Disposal Facility any time.

The Ministry said Hunt's Sanitation would collect vehicle batteries and scrap aluminium if contacted. And household batteries can be deposited at participating retail stores.