No bin collection for houeholders who snub charges

HOUSEHOLDERS in Waterford city who fail to pay the €80 bin charge by the end of this month will not have their bins collected, the city manager has warned.

With less than two weeks before the payment deadline expires, Waterford Corporation is hoping for full compliance with the new fixed service charge.

“A service is being provided and that service must be paid for,” city manager Conn Murray said this week at the opening of a new composting facility for domestic organic waste on the outskirts of the city.

In the last days there has been an influx of payments to the Corporation, but not all of the 16,000 households in the urban area are fully paid up. “We couldn’t have a situation where one set of people are paying for the service for the other half,” Mary Breen of the Corporation’s Planning and Environment section said yesterday.

“Everyone is getting the same service and we issue stickers for the bins so our operatives will know who has paid,” she added.

The introduction last July of a three-bin waste collection service in Waterford has been very successful.

When first initiated, households paid a set payment of €5 each time a bin was collected. With the introduction of the €80 annual charge this year, the Corporation reduced the fee to €4.50 for non-recyclable waste (grey bins) and €1.50 for the collection of organic and recyclable waste (green and brown bins). A waiver system is in place for low income households.

“The new charges have been met very favourably,” Ms Breen explained. “And they have allowed us to incentivise recycling.”

Since the three-bin system came into service there has been a 42% reduction in landfill waste from Waterford city and a noticeable shift towards recycling.