Greyhound individualises south Dublin charges

CERTAIN HOUSEHOLDS in south Dublin will have to pay more for bin collections than their neighbours, even if they present the same amount of rubbish, under new policies introduced by waste firm Greyhound this month.

Greyhound bought the waste collection business from South Dublin County Council for some 70,000 households last year.

The company said it has been analysing the amount of waste generated by each customer and is offering prices based on the results for each household.

Each customer has been offered three or four price plans, with a range of annual standing charges and the option to pay by weight or by lift, but the new prices vary widely between households.

Some customers are offered a standing charge of €330 with no additional charges for bin presentation, while others are offered €175 for the flat-rate service. Another offer would allow one customer to pay €19 per month with a lift charge of 24 cent per kg for the brown compostable waste bin and no per lift charge for the black general waste bin, while someone living next door could be asked to pay €60 per year with a charge of 24 cent per kg for the brown bin and 33 per kg for the black bin.

The different charges offered to every customer mean that even if a household presents the same amount of waste as its neighbour it could be paying a significantly higher price if in the past it presented more waste.

One customer who contacted The Irish Times said the options based on his usage would cost €360 per year, compared with €160 last year.

Another customer who was offered the option of a charge by weight for the brown bin but free lifts of the black bin said it offered “no incentive for composting”.

Greyhound has written to customers in south Dublin giving details of the options open to them, but those who do not select a plan will have one allocated automatically by the company.

A Greyhound spokesman rejected suggestions that prices were being increased. “This is not a price hike. It is giving customers options,” he said.

Waste volumes had been analysed and the company had recognised that “one price does not fit all”, he said.

He said he was not in a position to say whether the new pricing structure would be offered to Greyhound customers in Dublin city. The company began collecting waste from some 140,000 former Dublin City Council customers last January.