The Very Latest in the Developing Bin Charges Crisis

Mark Whelan

Former Head of Communications & Events

Emergency meetings, threats of fly tipping and price freezes: here's the very latest in the bin charges crisis.

At the end of last week, we wrote all about the rapidly unfolding bin charges crisis in Ireland.

With the new pay-by-weight pricing structure due to come into effect on July 1st, people all over the country have been alarmed at what they’re set to be charged to have their bins collected under the new system.

The Government’s prediction that 87% of households would save money under the new pay-by-weight structure has been dismissed as “nonsense” and many customers are facing price increases of over 50%, with some even set to see what they’re paying for waste collection double.

Here’s what happened over the weekend regarding the unfolding controversy.

What is the Government doing about the bin charges crisis?

Amidst an avalanche of criticism from the opposition and threats from members of the public to illegally dump waste in protest, Minister for the Environment, Simon Coveney called an emergency meeting with the country’s leading waste management firms on Friday night.

At the meeting, the Minister proposed delaying the introduction of the pay-by-weight system in full and instead offering customers a short-term guarantee that their prices wouldn’t rise, provided they didn’t produce an increased volume of waste.

Following a meeting of representatives of the waste management firms, it has been announced that most firms will freeze prices for the next 12 months and commit to educating customers on the benefits of the pay-by-weight pricing structure before it is introduced in full next year.

Price freeze

All companies that are members of the The Irish Waste Management Association have signed up to the price freeze which is designed to "alleviate customer concerns", which have been loud and numerous. Significantly, Greyhound and the City Bin Co are not members of the IWMA, so it remains to be seen what's in store for the 100,000 plus households that have their waste collected by one of these companies.

Simon Coveney is due to discuss the saga with Cabinet today and there still may be some political hurdles to navigate for the minority government, with the Anti-Austerity Alliance vocally opposed bin charges of any kind.

To understand why bin charges are being changed in the first place, read our blog post ‘Everything You Need To Know About the Emerging Bin Charges Crisis’.