Minister outlines minimum charges for ‘Pay by Weight’

Minimum charges per kilo per waste type have been announced by the Department of Environment, as they begin their campaign to educate the public on waste segregation, the brown bin and pay by weight, prior to July 1st, 2016. From that date household refuse charges will be levied on a weight per kilo basis. The “minimum” charges are 2c/kilo, 6c/kilo and 11c/kilo for recyclables, brown/food waste and black/grey waste respectively. These charges will be on top of the service charge that your waste service provider will charge…similar to the standing charge on a electricity bill. So in effect you will have the standing/service charge plus the price per kilo for each waste. This may cause difficulties for some users depending on the waste per kilo charges, the standing/service charges levied and the amount of the different waste types put out for collection. The result may be that the standing charge could actually be the biggest part of the householders bill! However the Minister has assured the public that household waste charges will not increase as a result of the pay by weight introduction. Let us all hope so, as there may now be scope for waste service providers to not only increase  standing charges but also the cost per kilo for each waste type. More will be revealed no doubt as  the July deadline approaches.