Government in U-turn on green waste charges

The Government has performed a last-minute U-turn on its controversial plan to make householders pay for the collection of recycled waste.

The move had come in for criticism from homeowners, lamenting another household charge and from the Greens, Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin, and the Anti Austerity Alliance which said it removed any incentive to divert recyclables from their black bin waste which heads to landfill.

Under the new pay-by- weight pricing structure, the Government is obliging waste companies to charge customers a minimum: n 11c per kilo for black bin waste. n 6c per kilo for brown bin compostable waste, which includes leftover food and garden waste.

There had been plans to introduce a 2c per kilo levy for green bin waste, made up of paper, tin, milk cartons, plastic and tin cans — but these were dropped yesterday morning as the new payment system, to begin on July 1, was to be officially launched.

According to Housing, Planning and Local Government Minister Coveney, he and Minister for Climate Change, Denis Naughten decided not to enforce the green waste charge. However, acknowledging that recycled waste costs money to collect and manage, he said it is now up to waste collectors to decide to charge for it anyway or to absorb its costs into another part of their pricing structure.

The Green Party welcomed the reversal of the recycling charge but said that the Government must go further by banning incineration.

“It was a short-sighted move, and the public outcry against the charges shows the level of support for recycling initiatives. It’s now up to the waste management companies to ensure that recycling stays free,” said party leader Eamon Ryan.

According to Mr Coveney, a pay-by-weight waste system is fairer and more transparent than the set fee system currently operated by waste companies.

“Pay-by-weight charging should provide better value for households who minimize their waste and segregate correctly.

“It will help Ireland achieve current and future EU recycling and landfill waste targets, and will also result in further job creation, due to the processing of more recyclable and organic waste,” he said.

The Regional Waste Plans have set targets to reduce waste generation in households by 1% per annum over the next five years and to increase current recycling rates from 40% to 50% by 2020.

Speaking on behalf of the three Regional Waste Management Planning Offices, Kevin Swift, regional waste co-ordinator for Connacht-Ulster, said: “The pay-by-weight system is being introduced to promote waste prevention, greater segregation of waste and to become part of the solution to global resource problems. The campaign is being supported by most waste collectors.

Chairperson of the IWMA (Irish Waste Management Association), Caroline Walsh, said this new way of calculating charges will encourage householders to be more aware of how they dispose of waste.

“By actively considering what we are buying and by segregating our waste, we can all better control our waste collection bills. The message is simple, If it’s in the right bin you’re on the right track.”

Waste companies have not yet finalised how they will charge customers under the new system.

Greenstar, which operates in nine counties, said it hopes to contact customers with details early next month. It will reveal a standing charge and its price per kilo. From now on, all customers will be invoiced monthly as their black and green bins will be weighed entering the trucks.