Basingstoke tip on Wade Road (RG24 8PL) is open 9am to 4pm every day to 28 February, shut 1pm to 1.30pm and on 25, 26 December and 1 January. Book online first.
Basingstoke’s tip is the Household Waste Recycling Centre on Wade Road, RG24 8PL, and it switches to winter hours on Thursday 1 October 2026: 9am to 4pm, seven days a week, closed for half an hour from 1pm to 1.30pm. You cannot just turn up. Every visit needs an appointment booked online in advance, and a van, pick-up or trailer also needs a permit. The site is run by Hampshire County Council, not the borough, and everything below is from the county’s Basingstoke HWRC page, checked on 25 September and again on 12 October 2026.
The quick answer
- 1 October to 28 February: 9am to 4pm, every day, closed 1pm to 1.30pm.
- Closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day: in 2026/27 that is Friday 25 December, Saturday 26 December and Friday 1 January.
- Book before you go, online through Hampshire’s booking system. A car is free; a van, pick-up or trailer needs a £20 permit.
Opening hours through the year
| Period | Hours |
|---|---|
| 1 October to 28 February | 9am to 4pm |
| 1 March to 31 March | 9am to 5pm |
| 1 April to 30 September | 9am to 6pm |
| Every day, all year | Closed 1pm to 1.30pm |
| Closed all day | Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day |
Those three are the only closed days the county lists. On its own wording the site should be open on Sunday 27 and Monday 28 December, the bank holiday, but book early: the days between Christmas and New Year are when everyone clears out packaging. The phone number for the site is 01256 352984.
Booking and permits
Every visit to every Hampshire recycling centre needs an appointment, and when you book you give the address the waste comes from. Visiting twice in a day counts as two visits.
Vans, pick-ups and trailers need a digital permit from the county’s van and trailer permit page. It costs £20, covers one vehicle for 12 visits or 12 months, whichever comes first, and a household can have at most two a year, so 24 visits. You book in the same vehicle you arrive in and the system recognises the registration. Paper trailer permits issued before 24 February 2026 still work until used up or expired; show them on arrival. Paper van permits have been converted to digital automatically. Trade waste is not allowed.
Where the Basingstoke tip is, and who can use it
The Basingstoke tip is at Wade Road, Basingstoke, RG24 8PL, phone 01256 352984. Three rules catch people out at the gate:
- No booking, no entry. Hampshire’s own answer to how slots work is blunt: “If arriving without a booking, you will not be allowed entry.” You need the registration of the vehicle you are coming in, and you can manage the booking online or in the OurHants app.
- You cannot walk or cycle in. Pedestrian access to every Hampshire recycling centre is suspended, and that includes mobility scooters. The county asks people not to travel to a site on foot, because they will be turned away.
- Living outside Hampshire costs £13.50 a visit. Non-Hampshire residents pay that access fee when they book, plus the normal charge for any DIY waste, and cannot come in a van, pick-up or large trailer. Residents of Portsmouth and Southampton use the sites free. If you live over the border but are clearing a Hampshire relative’s home, book with their Hampshire address. The rules are on the county’s non-Hampshire residents page.
The Basingstoke tip after bins go fortnightly
Basingstoke and Deane’s rubbish collections went fortnightly on Monday 12 October 2026, and extra bags left beside a full rubbish bin are not collected. For a household that runs out of room, Wade Road is the legal overflow: book a car slot, which is free, and take the bags to the general waste container. Before you do, check whether the bulk of it belongs in the recycling bin or the weekly food caddy instead, because those are still collected. Your new days are on our bin collection days page.
DIY waste: the free allowance and what you pay after it
Rubble, soil, plasterboard and cement-bonded asbestos are free only up to a household allowance, set out on the county’s DIY and chargeable waste page:
- Allowance: up to eight 50-litre rubble sacks or four single items per household in any four weeks. A part sack counts as a whole one. You must declare DIY waste when you book.
- Over the allowance: rubble and soil £3 a sack or £3 an item; plasterboard £6 a sack or £10 a sheet; cement-bonded asbestos £12 a sheet. Oversized items are always charged.
- Work done by a tradesperson cannot count against your allowance.
Basingstoke is one of only five Hampshire centres that take asbestos, with Andover, Efford, Netley and Portsmouth. Separate tiles from plasterboard before you go.
What Wade Road takes, and what it turns away
It takes cardboard, carpets, mattresses, bedding, baths, wood (treated and untreated), garden waste, electricals, batteries, car batteries, light bulbs, mobile phones, printer cartridges and vapes. Real Christmas trees go in the green waste container.
Four things to know before you load the car:
- Fridges and freezers are not guaranteed. The county warns that a national shortage of recycling capacity means sites “may be required to refuse them once storage capacity is reached”, and you may be sent to another centre.
- Tyres are not accepted. Take them to a garage or tyre centre.
- Old railway sleepers are not accepted, because they count as hazardous waste wood.
- Animal waste is limited to two bin bags per household per day.
Basingstoke is also one of the 11 Hampshire centres licensed for hazardous household waste, so it takes white spirit, anti-freeze, weed killer, pesticides and similar chemicals in a sealed container, up to five litres per household a month. The same five-litre monthly limit applies to paint. Engine oil is capped at 10 litres per household every six months, and gas bottles are taken up to 15kg, propane or butane, but not Calor bottles, which go back through Calor’s own return points.
Sofas, armchairs and other upholstered seating are accepted but must arrive whole where possible, because the foam can contain persistent organic pollutants; ask the staff where to put them. Furniture in good condition can be sold on through the site’s sales area for reuse rather than scrapped, and the garden waste you tip is turned into Pro-Grow soil conditioner, which you can buy back at the site.
Turned away outright: cooking oil (seal it and put it in your rubbish bin), medicines (back to a pharmacy), petrol and diesel, ammunition, explosives and flares, and Japanese knotweed or soil contaminated with it.
Other tips near Basingstoke
Every Hampshire centre runs the same seasonal hours as Wade Road and needs the same booking, so if Basingstoke has no slot the nearest alternatives are:
| Site | Address | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Hartley Wintney | Springwell Lane, Hartley Wintney, Hook, RG27 8BW | Has steps, and does not take upholstered seating |
| Andover | Scott Close, Walworth Industrial Estate, SP10 5NU | Also takes asbestos; phone 01264 353438 |
| Alton | Omega Business Park, GU34 2QE | Also takes hazardous household chemicals |
All three are open 9am to 4pm until 28 February, closed 1pm to 1.30pm, and shut on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day, per each site’s page on the county’s recycling centre finder.
Christmas at the tip
The tip closes on 25 and 26 December and 1 January, and it is the place for the extra cardboard, broken lights and the real tree once the holiday is over. Kerbside collections move over Christmas too: see our Christmas bin collections page, and bin collection days for the fortnightly changes that start on 12 October.
Still to be confirmed
- Hampshire has not published any change to the Christmas hours beyond the three closed days. We will check again in early December.
Basingstoke tip: questions people ask
Is the Basingstoke tip open today?
It is open every day of the year except Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. From 1 October to 28 February the hours are 9am to 4pm, closed for half an hour at 1pm. You still need a booked slot for the day.
Do I have to book the Basingstoke tip?
Yes, for every visit, including a quick drop with a car. Book online through Hampshire County Council. Without a booking you will not be let in, and two visits in one day need two bookings.
Can I walk to the Basingstoke tip?
No. Hampshire has suspended pedestrian and mobility scooter access at all of its recycling centres, so you have to arrive in a booked vehicle.
How much does the Basingstoke tip cost?
Nothing for a Hampshire household in a car. A van, pick-up or trailer needs a £20 permit covering 12 visits, DIY waste over the free allowance is charged (rubble £3 a sack, plasterboard £6 a sack), and people who live outside Hampshire pay £13.50 a visit.
Can I take extra rubbish to the tip now bins are fortnightly?
Yes. Since 12 October the borough will not take extra bags left beside a full rubbish bin, but you can take household rubbish to Wade Road with a booked car slot at no charge.
Does the Basingstoke tip take fridges and tyres?
Fridges and freezers are accepted but not guaranteed: Hampshire warns sites may refuse them once storage is full, because of a national shortage of recycling capacity. Tyres are never accepted; take them to a garage or tyre centre.
Driving there? Check roadworks and travel before you set off, and parking in Basingstoke if you are heading into town after.
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