Cornwall county council is to increase its commercial waste disposal charges from £45.17/ tonne to £78.69/ tonne to reflect what it claims to be "actual costs" and avoid subsidising a small part of the county's commercial waste disposal at the expense of householders.

The authority claims there could be benefits to those businesses whose waste has been co-collected if they decide to change to a commercial waste management service. This is because the LATS system only applies to municipal waste, enabling private waste contractors to charge lower fees.

The current disposal charge for business waste that is collected with household waste does not cover the actual disposal costs. The new prices will be from April 1.

"If the under-charging was not corrected householders would have been subsidising a few businesses," said coun ty councillor Adam Paynter, member for environment and heritage.

The six district councils in Cornwall have a legal duty to collect most household waste free of charge. They are also required to collect commercial waste, but only if requested to do so by businesses. In such cases they may make a "reasonable" charge for its collection and disposal.

Any business waste co-collected with household waste is counted as municipal waste, resulting in higher waste totals and significant impact on the County's disposal costs.