Martin Cullen TD, Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government announced yesterday (22/03/04) that the national changeover to volume or weight-based payments for waste collection should be completed by next year.
Minister Cullen said that using a fixed fee for household waste collection failed to encourage recycling. He said the requirement for pay-by-use waste collection would reward residents who manage their waste through increased reduction and recycling.
He said: “With good progress now being made on putting in place a much expanded recycling infrastructure, it is important that we introduce mechanisms which reward those who recycle their waste and encourage others to join the recycling drive.
“Pay-by-use waste charging systems, whether on the basis of weight or volume, can play a major part in this,” Mr Cullen added.
The deadline for introducing a charging system covers both public and private sector waste collectors in Ireland but the actual nature of the system will be left to each local authority or private company.
The Minister said: “The precise charging mechanism will be decided at a local level where local circumstances can be best taken into account. However, from 1st January 2005, whatever system is introduced will have to respect the overarching principle of charging on the base of usage.”
Some collectors are already using pay-by-use systems, such as Cork county council, who started a scheme using microchipped bins in June 2003 (see letsrecycle.com story). The main charging options being used and likely to be considered for other areas in Ireland include:
- Pay by weight – wheelie bins are weighed at the collection point by the waste operator with the householder billed for the amount of refuse collected.
- Pay by tag – wheelie bins, when full and ready for collection, are tagged with pre-purchased tags by the householder.
- Pay by bag – refuse bags are tagged for collection with pre-purchased tags by the householder.
Of the 1.4 million tonnes of household waste generated in Ireland in 2001, only 5.6% was recovered. Variable charging has been very unpopular in some circles in Ireland but the government made this strong move to require pay-by-use in order to help achieve its 2013 targets to divert 50% of overall household waste away from landfill and recycle of 35% of municipal waste.
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