Fingal waste plan aims to encourage recycling

Fingal County Council in Dublin is to introduce a waste-charging system incorporating additional costs for those who do not recycle their waste. The council, only one of two local authorities in the Republic yet to introduce charges for refuse collection, has set January 1st for the introduction of its new charges.

The new scheme will see each household being given a green and a grey wheelie bin. Waste left in the green bin for recycling will be taken away without charge, while that left in the grey bin and earmarked for landfill will be charged €5 for each use. Effectively those who recycle the least will have to pay the most.

According to the council, the message to householders is clear: recycling is free and sending waste to landfill is costly. "You pay only for what you throw away," a spokesman said.

The green recycle bins will accept cans, newspapers and cereal boxes. Households will also be encouraged to compost vegetable waste and bring bottles and plastics to recycling centres.

The council says the grey bins will be monitored by a tagging system. Tags should be fitted to the grey bins every time they are left out for collection but it says if the green bins are used correctly, it would not be necessary to put the grey bin out each week. Distribution of the bins is expected to be completed in 18 months.

Until householders have been provided with two bins, they will be required to pay €3 for each tag. Households with the small-size 120-litre grey bins will pay €2.50 or €1.50 for their residual waste to be disposed of at landfill, depending on whether the free door-to-door green bin recycling service is already in their area.

An estimated 15 to 20 per cent of households who are pensioners, unemployed or dependent on social welfare or disability payments will be allowed a waiver.

As part of the Dublin Waste Plan, Fingal is aiming to achieve an ambitious target of 59 per cent recycling. In the Republic the current recycling rates are 10 per cent, with just 3 per cent of household waste being recycled.