Those who think 'pay-by-weight' bin charges would mean the end of fixed charges are mistaken, writes Tim O'Brien
The announcement by the Minister for the Environment, Martin Cullen, that he has asked all local authorities to move to a weight-based refuse system is a cynical exercise designed to make bin charges look fairer than they are.
The timing of the announcement in the midst of the current anti-bin charge protest ensured maximum publicity and seemed to indicate that while the charges were unwelcome to all, those who did not want to pay could avoid them by behaving responsibly, recycling and reusing. Cullen described the idea as "a win-win for the environment and for households".
But Cullen is aware - or should be - that just as there is no such thing as a free lunch, there is no such thing as a free waste management service either. The "pay-by-weight" system, heralded by the Minister as already in operation in Co Monaghan and Co Cork, is based on a flat operator's fee first, and then a weight-based charge for the refuse removal. In Cork this flat fee is €160 per year before the householders get their weight bills. In Monaghan the system is operated by McElvaney Bins, where the fixed six-monthly charge is €85 followed, again, by a weight-based charge for the waste.
Typically, both here and in Europe the ratio of fixed cost to weight-based cost is about 50:50.
This is not to denigrate pay-by-weight systems - they still offer an incentive to reduce half of your bill. But what Cullen knows is that there is a level below which your costs will not go. As the Swiss, the Dutch and others have found, charges are necessary to pay for the recycling services, the bring centres, the materials recovery centres, the lorries, transportation and wages.
This is the experience of Hugh McElvaney in Co Monaghan, whose weight-based charges are exactly the same as those charged to him at landfill. The fixed charge pays for his infrastructure, his business costs and the picking up of recyclables which are carried, as in Co Cork, for no fee.
Other "pay-by-volume" systems advocated by Cullen do possibly offer the best way to reduce costs - by allowing householders to put out a bin only every few weeks, if that can be achieved. But this scheme is already in operation. Dublin City Council operates three different sizes of bins, with a fourth planned. Many local authorities offer two sizes with bags, again offering the chance to reduce waste and save money. Private operators offer bags in every county in the Republic.
But by insisting that plans to introduce pay-by-weight schemes should be on his desk by October 13th, Cullen seemed to ignore the fact that schemes like those mentioned above are already in place.
The difficulties of pay-by-weight are well known to the Irish, but also to the Dutch and Swiss, European leaders in waste management. But the Minister must know this too, because his officials have been in those countries to study waste management schemes.