The €23 wheelie bin - cost to double due to waste crisis

REFUSE charges in several parts of the country are expected to double in the next three to five years.

Waterford residents will have to pay €23 to have one wheelie bin emptied from next year - it currently costs €13. Wexford County Council is planning to increase refuse charges by up to €100 per annum.

Many counties are facing similar rises, particularly any local authority where landfill space is running out and waste has to be transported out of the county.

Wexford County Council’s landfill closed last Friday. The council is going to increase costs to meet the €2.5 million per annum cost of transporting its waste to Co Carlow.

The Green Party has accused the Government and local authorities of allowing the crisis to develop in an effort to bully citizens into accepting incineration.

The Department of the Environment denied the claim, saying its emphasis continues to be on the reuse, reduce, recycle principles. Waterford County Council’s senior engineer in environment, Paul Daly, said charges to its 19,000 customers will almost double from next year.

Compost waste charges across Co Waterford will spiral from €7.50 to €11 and recycling bags will cost €5, more than double the current cost of €2.25.

Wexford County Council said refuse charge hikes of up to €100 per annum can be expected, until the landfill at Holmestown opens in two years’ time.

Landfill space in South Tipperary and Co Kilkenny is also running out.

Galway is also on the brink of a refuse crisis as the High Court has ordered the closure of the Ballinasloe landfill by December 31.