No sticker, no bin collection, city council warns

HOUSEHOLDERS in Waterford city who do not display their flat fee sticker on their bins will not have their refuse collected from May 2, the City Council has warned.

To date, 88% of the 15,500 or so households in the city have paid the €120 flat fee.

This fee is payable, before the rubbish or residual bin, the brown, organic bin and dry recyclable bin is collected.

Just over 68% of households in the county have paid the fee there.

Mary Breen at the council’s environment office said some people may well have got their sticker but either neglected to put in on their bin or lost it.

She said that where people have lost their sticker, they should contact the council and a replacement one will be issued.

“We’ve been looking at our statistics and about 88% of households have paid the flat fee. It’s a high rate. But there are always people who leave it to the last minute. We would appeal to them now to pay this fee, otherwise their bins will not be collected from Tuesday,” she said.

It’s the third year that the flat fee has been payable in the city, and it is normal for as many as one-in-10 to leave it until the very last minute to pay.

The flat fee of €120 per annum is payable just to have a service.

On top of this, householders must now pay €7.50 per wheelie bin lift; €1.50 to have their green, dry recyclable bin lifted and €1.50 for their brown, organic bin. The collection will continue on a three-week cycle basis.

The situation has not been so free-flowing in the county, where a €150 flat fee was introduced for the first time this year.

The County Council has already admitted that it could be forced to review the collection service if more people do not use it.

On Friday, the council said 68.1% of households have paid the fee.

And those who have not paid the fee have not had their bins collected since March 30.

The flat fee, on top of a hike in charges for bins, spurred some to look at alternative operators.

The introduction of this charge was “regrettable, but necessary,” the council said.

The county’s landfills are all now closed and waste is being transported to Carlow at a significant cost to the local authority.

Further significant costs are being incurred by Waterford County Council in carrying out remediation of Dungarvan and Tramore landfills in compliance with Environmental Protection Agency requirements.