Waste charges- pay by weight

J

Jumpstartdublin

Registered User
Messages
223
the government's announcement today they they are postponing/ scrapping the proposed changes to bin charges is a complete abdication of responsibility. The proposed charges appeared on the face of it to level out and apply appropriate charges to each of the three types of waste households present for collection. Is there a better way to encourage recycling and reduce our ultimate overall charges ...
 
My feeling on this is that the charges were proposed by people who think they are in a perfect world where there is no such thing as illegal dumping.

Dublin City Council alone is spending at least €55,000 a month on illegally dumped waste, which amounts to 45 tonnes a week (one assumes that is going straight to landfill...)
http://www.dublinlive.ie/incoming/illegal-dumping-costs-dublin-city-11348644

Whatever the abstract merits of the proposed changes (thankfully cancelled), they would have made that situation even worse.

Recycling should be encouraged. This was a step in the wrong direction.
I think it's more important to encourage people such that the right waste to go into the right bins because I think that the ability of most private citizens to reduce the amount of actual waste produced is limited.

Had these changes come into effect, I guarantee there would be more paper and bottles and cans and toiletries dumped on our streets, laneways and parks rather than into green bins.
 
I think the pricing structure should be regulated in the same way as the energy regulator. There should be a maximum service charge (say €100 per year) and a stiff charge for refuse (say 35c/kilo) and a relatively low rate for food waste (say 10c/kilo) and free dry recycling or a rebate of say -5c/kilo for dry recycling. This way serious recyclers are rewarded.
 
From The Indo article here, it suggests only the dry recyclable waste levy is being dropped, and the minimum charge of 11c/kg for black bin waste and 6c/kg for compostable waste still stands.

ajapale said:
or a rebate of say -5c/kilo for dry recycling
Click to expand...

I'd love that! I'd be making money.
 
The indo is not correct (or misses the point somewhat) when it states "The system also planned to introduce a 2 cent per kilo levy for green bin waste, made up of tin cans, paper and milk cartons. This morning, Mr Coveney said no levy would be set out for this waste."

The minimum charge for dry recyclables is being dropped. So providers can charge anything they like. Old proposal: providers can charge anything providing its more than 2c/ kilo. New proposal: no minimum charge prescribed for dry recyclables.
 
Good point! It'll be interesting to see what the providers do. They all seem to be waiting for the others to publish prices first.
 
Relative received this e-mail over the week-end from Greyhound and it would appear to make things a lot more expensive than now or am I totally wrong? I don't use Greyhound and notice that Thorntons are saying on their website that they will charge for the green bin but have yet to notify anyone of their intended charges.

Update: 31.05 - Thorntons have now changed their website and are showing green bins as free. Their weekly service charge at €2.00 will be €1.25 cheaper per week than Greyhound, their domestic rate at 35c per kg will be the same and the brown bin at 20c will be 3c cheaper than Greyhound.

Dear Customer,


Introducing Pay by Weight
On July 1st 2016 new Pay-By-Weight legislation on waste collection will become law. The EU-led legislation aims to increase recycling so we can meet our climate change obligations. Under the new rules, all waste companies must charge by weight for biodegradable waste (brown bin) and residual (black bin) with the option to charge for recycling (green bin). To encourage recycling, Greyhound Household has opted to keep recycling free. According to government figures, more than 90% of households can save money by segregating their waste better. 70% of waste currently in black bins could be diverted to less costly green and brown bins. Please click here to see what goes in your bin.

ImageProxy.mvc


Our price plan is structured to encourage households to divert material away from the black bin. Following the changeover, any unused service amount from your current price plan will be credited back to your account on the 1st of July due to the change in your service dates. The new weekly service charge above will be deducted from your account balance starting from the 1st of July 2016.

If you sign up to our automatic top up (ATU) service you will receive a 3% bonus on all payments until July 2017. An ATU means that you will not have to worry about having enough credit on your account. Please click here to see how to sign up to ATU.

Questions?

It is natural that you may have some questions. Before you pick up the phone, please view our Pay-By-Weight Section on www.greyhound.ie. We have increased the number of contact centre staff to facilitate the change-over. You can also email us at [email protected] detailing your question or request a call back. Our phone lines will be busy, so please be patient.

Please [broken link removed] for Pay by Weight FAQ's.

The Green Bin

To ensure this service remains free, green bins will be carefully monitored to ensure they are not contaminated with non-recycling material.

And Finally

Thank you for your continued support and custom. We will try to make this transition to Pay-By-Weight as smooth and easy as possible.

Best wishes,
The Greyhound Household Team


Thank you for your continued custom & valued support
 
Last edited:
I'm confused... why are prices going up so dramatically? It's supposed to be a minimum charge, not an additional charge, by the government... The proposed service charge on its own is almost the same as Greyhound were charging for all in deals 18 months ago...
 
Single people dont put out much waste so they need to get money from these people hence the increased service charge - totally predictable. They are not a charity - they will get the same revenue in or more -one way or another.
 
Our provider (in culchie land, not the Pale) is moving to a direct debit only or pay in advance system but are taking an additional €30 in July in advance and are requiring all customers to have a minimum of €30 in their account or they won't collect a bin. There is then an annual charge (as per now) and a pay per kilo charge but both of those have not yet been announced.
 
Just did some calculations from my Greyhound history over the past 12 months.
Avg weight per black bin = 27kilos
Avg weight per brown bin = 17kilos

I paid a flat fee of €200 for all bins for the past 12 months.

Under the new scheme with a flat fee of per week and pay by weight for black and brown:
Black bins = €243
Brown bins = €104
Flat fee = €169
Total = €516...a 158% increase. And no account given for having a lot of young kids in the house.

And to think people nearly went to war over water charges which were less than half the cost and had waivers, allowances etc.

This new scheme is very expensive and will lead to a lot more dumping in urban areas.

Who do we thank for it....Alan Kelly or Labour/FG or was this another great dictat from Brussels?
 
Delboy,

I did a quick similar exercise for this relative and they now have deal with Greyhound which will disappear come July. They will go from €204 to approx €500 per year!! I was thinking exactly the same as you when it comes to the dumping. To think that Alan Kelly said people could reduce their charges by recycling more.
 
I already see dumping as I walk to work every day. I can see this really getting out of hand in say 3-6 months. Might be the next election issue -maybe they could promise us a commission and then go to dail committee and then a dail vote on rubbish.
 
I recycle 100% of everything that could possibly go into a green bin.
But with 2 kids in nappies still (household of 6), there's no way I can get my bill down. So a stealth tax on large-ish families by the looks of it.

And yes, I recall Kelly's spoofing about people actually saving money under this scheme. At the standing charge as set out, not 1 person will save money. it's not possible.

Looks like those anti-waste privatisation protesters will finally be proved right.
 
I think the waste companies will be delighted if people blame the government on this (current or previous). This strikes me as the waste companies taking advantage of the changes to significantly hike their charges. I'm not aware of anything in the legislation that could justify some of these price hikes.
 
And also consider how the waste companies have slashed their wage costs through replacing middle aged unionised Irish workers with mainly Eastern Europeans.
Greyhound are an Isle of Man registered company if I recall correctly so no visibility over their accounts
 
Leo said:
I think the waste companies will be delighted if people blame the government on this (current or previous). This strikes me as the waste companies taking advantage of the changes to significantly hike their charges. I'm not aware of anything in the legislation that could justify some of these price hikes.
Click to expand...

The Government aren't blame free though either. For Simon Coveney to say 'However, individual waste collectors can still implement a charge if they see fit' is disgraceful.
 
Just posted this update to my post above in case anyone misses the change to the Thorntons issue of charging for the green bin:

Update: 31.05 - Thorntons have now changed their website and are showing green bins as free. Their weekly service charge at €2.00 will be €1.25 cheaper per week than Greyhound, their domestic rate at 35c per kg will be the same and the brown bin at 20c will be 3c cheaper than Greyhound.
 
Sue Ellen said:
Their weekly service charge at €2.00 will be €1.25 cheaper per week than Greyhound, their domestic rate at 35c per kg will be the same and the brown bin at 20c will be 3c cheaper than Greyhound.
Click to expand...

So they might be cheaper than the main competition, but the new service fee is twice what they charged me last year, and based on their previous lift charge per maximum weight allowed in black bins (40kg), the per kilo price is going up from 24.75c to 35c!!

So the service that was costing me €69.80 will now cost around €130, City Bin would charge €180. I can't find price details on the Greyhound site, but assuming the above €3.25 weekly charge and 35c per kilo, it would cost €200.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top