Bin cheats will face fines of up to €1,200

HOUSEHOLDERS caught fiddling new refuse collection charges, to be introduced in Co Cork next year, could face fines of up to €1,200.

They could also be hit with smaller on-the-spot fines for failing to comply with a number of regulations, some of which include designated times for putting out and retrieving bins.

Bye laws are to be introduced which will make it an offence to interfere with the new refuse collection service, which aims at improving recycling and cutting down on the need for landfill space by charging people for each kilo they put in their bins.

Catherine Walsh, head of the Cork County Council's environment section, said a pilot scheme operating in West Cork would be extended to other areas in due course.

Householders in that region pay a flat rate of 160 a year to have their bins collected and 23 cents for every kilo of waste they put out.

Their wheelybins have a microchip attached which records the amount of waste they offer for disposal.

"We are seeking tenders in North Cork for the installation of this type of wheelybin and we should have the system installed there at the beginning of 2004," Ms Walsh said.

She added that the Southern division which includes the whole of East Cork, Carrigaline, Douglas and down to Ballinhassig would take longer to implement.

Ms Walsh said there were 36,000 households in that area and these would be put on the new system on a phased basis, starting early next year.

Anybody found trying to fiddle with the microchip implant could find themselves before the courts and facing fines of up to €1,200.

The bye laws, which will come into operation on September 1, include a number of clauses which, if not adhered to, carry a minimum on-the-spot fine of 60.

For example, no waste must be protruding from the wheelybin lid; no hazardous or construction waste will be allowed; bins will have to be properly maintained by the owner and microchips cannot be tampered with.

It will also be an offence for rural householders to put their bins out for collection before 9pm on the previous night and not to retrieve them by 9pm on collection day.

In the case of residents of built-up areas, they cannot put their rubbish out any earlier than 5am on collection day and must remove the wheelybin from the roadside as soon as possible afterwards.