THE GOVERNMENT HAS announced that plans to introduce mandatory minimum pay-by-weight charges for green bin waste have been scrapped.
Minimum charges of 11c/kg for black bin waste, 6c for brown bins and 2c for green (recycle) bins were due to come into effect on 1 July.
Several political parties were against the green bin charges being introduced, including People Before Profit/Anti-Austerity Alliance, the Greens, Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin.
The charges for the black and brown bins will still be brought in.
Local Government Minister Simon Coveney made the announcement today as he welcomed the launch of an awareness campaign for the pay-by-weight system for the collection of household waste.
Coveney said the system “will mean that the majority of households will be charged in a new, fairer and more transparent way”.
The new charges were announced in February by then Environment Minister Alan Kelly.
‘A victory’
Richard Boyd Barrett told the News at One today’s development was a “victory”. However, he added that private companies could still charge for the service.
If that is the case well then it’s not enough of a victory … what we need is an absolute prohibition on private companies charging for green waste.
Speaking at the launch today, Kevin Swift of the Connaught and Ulster Waste Management Planning Region said bin operators can’t operate at below cost and may choose to add their own fee.
The current household recycling rate in Ireland is 45%. The new scheme aims to push this up to 50% by 2020.
Coveney said the system will “incentivise the prevention of waste and divert material from landfill, to give families more control over their waste management costs and to further drive increases in recycling rates”.
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