Second bin operator announces new recycling charge

The City Bin Company has become the latest waste operator to charge households for recycling.

It follows an announcement by bin company Panda that it would introduce green charges in Dublin – costing an average of €21 per year.

On Friday evening, The City Bin Company wrote to customers to say they would face an additional fee of €22.80 per year.

The additional fees will be introduced in April.

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The email signed by managing director Niall Killilea states that the cost of disposing green bins is four times higher than it was a year ago.

“Until now, we have absorbed these costs in the hope that this trend would be reversed but there’s no end in sight. So, unfortunately, we need to add €1.90 to your monthly service charge. In order to encourage you to maximise your green bin usage, we will continue to provide you with a free green bin,” writes Mr Killilea.

On Wednesday, Ireland’s largest waste company Panda has said charges for green bin collections would be frozen for five years after it announced it was introducing a fee for collecting recyclables.

The new charge will affect more than 250,000 homes and commercial businesses, mainly in the Dublin area.

From April 19th, Panda will charge 80 cents per lift of recycling bins and 4.5 cents per kg of waste in these bins. Panda collects and processes 100,000 tonnes of mix recyclables a year.

Panda chief executive Des Crinion pointed out that China, the biggest processor of plastics in the world, was no longer taking plastic from other countries.

There has been a €100 per tonne drop in the price of unsorted scrap paper in recent months – so much so that waste companies now have to pay up to €25 per tonne to shift it. Other waste companies are also likely to pass on increased costs in coming weeks; some already charge for green bin contents.