Waste disposal: How to cut your household bin bills

When it comes to domestic waste charges, it's up to us to read the fine print

What you pay will depend not just on the weight of your waste, but where you live. File pictures

WELL, it was bound to happen. With the domestic bin relieved of all those precious recyclable plastic bottles and aluminium cans, most services around the country are making it clear — fees will be rising.

I realised this week that I had been docked €34 in credit on my bin account. I paid €190 odd for a half-year on the waste/recycling/compost bins and was credited with just €156 by return. One pert phone call later (verging on the full outraged, trembling Karen) my face was aflame. 

The extra charges were for small rolling charges for excess weight, largely lurking in my food bin. The shame. I realised that we had not paid attention to the T&Cs at Wiser Bins and there was a set kilogramme limit per fortnight. The husband, convinced he was God’s own gift to planetary good, only put the food bin out once a month. Consequently, we repeatedly over-shot the kilogramme allowance per fortnightly lift.

So, here again, like with power bills, food shopping and all the other obligatory drains on our incomes, we can only control what we can control. In the case of bins, there are a few things to get right. First of all, share the load. 

There will be weeks when your waste bin (the black dastardly one that goes to landfill or the incinerator) will be overweight with good reason. You may have had a kitchen clear out, there could be some non-toxic DIY items in there — something like that. Introduced in 2016, pay by weight was intended to clean up our act by:

• Ensuring compliance with the polluter pays principle
• Stimulating the prevention of all three types of waste
• Ensuring a more environmentally sustainable approach to the management of waste In Ireland
• Providing better value for households who segregate better

Well, in aummer 2024 with bin prices set to rise because we are doing our civic duty in the deposit return acheme — that hasn’t aged well.

Ireland is the only country in the World that weighs every domestic and commercial bin. That’s something to be proud of. Government legislation prescribes an extra charge for a lift that exceeds 15kg for a 140l bin (a typical size for a domestic food bin) and 24kg per 240l bin. The allowance for a larger 360l bin is 45kg. Some companies set their thresholds even lower, for instance, I ran over my 10kg, 140l food bin charge. My 240l waste bin has an allowance of 27kg per lift (Wiser Bins) and the 250l recycling bin is 12kg.

Different companies structure their charges in different ways. With high operating costs, they are there to make a profit and this can extend to every bin type. Bord na Mona for example has a flat fee per quarter for 215kg in the waste bin. 

Composting can take some of the load from your brown bin, but cut down on your food waste wherever possible. 

Others set a weight allowance for the year. Country Clean will charge you an excess after you reach 260kg in your compost bin over 12 months, something to think about if you are cheerfully wasting food and stuffing the compost/food bin with garden cuttings. Some suppliers have no thresholds on green or brown bins (recycling/food). Keep in mind that the EPA has just estimated from the last figures we had, that Ireland generated 750,000 tonnes of food waste, or 146kg of food waste per person. One-third of what we buy in foodstuffs gets chucked out.

Back in the bins, excess weight charges run from 19c to 30c per kg depending on the supplier, and it’s easy for a steady drip to end up at an extra 10%-15% on the fees for the year. Packages on offer will include charges like pay-per-lift (where you tie on a pre-paid tag on collection day), pay-per-kg and weight-band charges. Most companies combine pay-per-lift and weight charges. It’s up to you to pull on your rubber gloves and comb the fine print. If you’re really on point, not generating enough waste for a monthly fee, and not filling the waste or recycling wheelies every two weeks, pay-per-lift will likely suit you best, and save you money.

So, finding a supplier and deal. If you have some idea of your needs in terms of the amount of waste you generate, you can take the kgs you’re likely to need per bin in a two-week period, and compare like-with-like in the available suppliers in your area. Note if there are charges for over-shooting the allowance on the green and brown bins. Does it just affect the black, waste bin? Generally, you can check if they cover your route with a quick Eircode search on their home website. There are between two and four bin packages depending on your location, with some that include a glass wheelie (only available in designated urban areas). 

Currently €16-€38 per month would be typical for urban/rural bin collection, charged once or in monthly instalments. Bin charges in larger towns and cities tend to be lower as competition is fierce. Some companies offer a dedicated app, while others will lean on text alerts.

You might not have a commercial weighing scales on the drive, but most of us have an instinct that the bin is over-full. Rubbish happens. However, especially in the case of the black bin (where the heaviest items inevitably go), it’s worth exploring just why it’s such a Heffalump come collection day. If the waste bin is especially hefty, weed out some of the excess and either save things like DIY leftovers for a trip to the civic amenity site or put it in next week’s bin if you’re on a plan with a weekly allowance. Double-check that your beloved eco-rogues are not haphazardly flinging dry recyclables and foodstuffs into the black bin. 

The UK has started to audit bin contents, and there’s no reason it couldn’t start here on a more forensic level. Currently, if your bins happen to be detected as being contaminated (say you throw a half-empty tin of paint in the recycling), you could be charged for a call and collection while the bin remains full on the kerb.

Diligently separating your waste and aiming to use the recycling and food bin over the misery of black bags is the best way to stay on track and to keep weight out of the black bin with the larger fines per kg. It costs around €3 to enter your local civic amenity site where you can unload your cardboard boxes, old clothes, garden waste and other bulky recyclables that can eat the volume of your recycling bin or waste wheelie. Consider composting your food waste where possible, especially where you are being charged for its removal. If you can reduce what you’re throwing out and outright wasting, it might even be possible to opt for a new bin package in the future, with fewer litres, fewer bins and fewer lifts.