Waste collectors have been given until January 2005 to introduce charges based on the amount of rubbish a household disposes of.
The Minister of the Environment made the announcement of the new "pay-by-use" system in Dublin this morning. The new system must be introduced by January 1st next by local authorities and private waste collectors nationwide.
Minister for the Environment, Mr Cullen
They will be required to offer a weight or volume-based service, rewarding those who reduce, reuse and recycle their waste.
"Those who recycle more will pay less, those who don't will pay more", the Minister told a press conference.
"With good progress now being made on putting in place a much expanded recycling infrastructure, it is important that we introduce mechanisms which reward those who recycle their waste and encourage others to join the recycling drive," he said.
Pre-paid tags for bags are in use by 10 local authorities, while Cork County Council and Monaghan County Council are involved in a pilot project to base household charges on the weight of waste put out for collection.
In both cases, the results have shown a significant reduction in the volume of household waste - and a corresponding increase in recycling. Critics of the annual flat charge say it provides no incentive to reduce waste levels.
"If you charge a flat annual fee, it fails to inspire people to make a strong effort to recycle," Mr Cullen added.
Green Party leader, Mr Trevor Sargent, said Mr Cullen had "finally woken up and adopted Green Party policy on waste charges."
"The Minister could have avoided enormous anger at the injustice of a flat charge if he had heeded the advice of the Green Party from the start.
"At last the tag-a-bin system used by Fingal County Council or a weight-based system is being ecognised by Minister Cullen as the way to go."
Labour Party spokesman on the environment, Mr Eamon Gilmore, said the new system could "end up costing householders more and not less for waste collection services."
"While this appears to be more equitable, it could result in even higher charges for householders because of the Minister's failure to cap increases in the charges," he added.