Bin charges to remain the same for Galway customers

Bin charges will remain the same for Galway customers after a national deal with waste management companies has deferred the introduction of new pay-by-weight changes.

After a furore in Dublin where some householders were facing exorbitant rises of between 80 and 200%, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government Simon Coveney went into talks with the bin companies.

They agreed to a prize freeze for 12 months and to issue bills with the two sets of charges so that customers can see how much they would be liable for if the refuse was weighed.

They then have the option of switching in January.

Minister Coveney said the Government will make the jump to the pay-by-weight system after 12 months if there is “public acceptance” for the move.

The compromise means the implementation of the European Union’s “polluter pays” principle is now on hold for waste and water. There is also no incentive for customers of both key services to reduce waste.

The vast majority of customers of Barna Recycling in Galway are on a fixed rate contract but some former Galway City Council customers are already paying based on the weight of their refuse, with each bin chipped to record the weight.

A spokesman told the Galway City Tribune most of their bins have already been chipped to meet the changes, which had been due to come on stream by next month.

“We wouldn’t have complete records for people’s [bin] weight for long enough but, at the rates we had fixed, we estimate that 65% of customers wouldn’t see any change – a percentage would be better off and a percentage would be worse off – maybe if they have big families or share bins,” he explained.

The vast majority of Barna’s city customers pay between €225 and €255 for bin collection every year. The charges for pay-by-weight customers had been capped at €229 with a standing service charge of €159. When the cap had to removed ahead of the introduction of the pay-by-weight system by the Government, the company reduced that down to €144.

“For Galway City, I don’t see any major change at all. I think there will be acceptance of it when they have the full knowledge of their charges under pay-by-weight. At least they will have the opportunity to change their ways with more recycling and using the composting bins more where charges per kilo are very low.”

The move will do nothing to alleviate the West of Ireland’s landfill crisis.

By the end of this month, the dump in Ballina – the only landfill operating for the region – is to close and all waste will now have to be exported abroad.

The dump in Kilconnell, Ballinasloe, which was set up in 2005 to serve the waste disposal needs of the Connacht region, no longer operates after a receiver was appointed to the operator Greenstar in 2012.

Galway County Council has been charged with the aftercare of the site and the remediation plan involved reopening to waste for a short period to fill up those remaining uncapped cells before the site would be closed permanently by the end of 2018.

According to Barna Waste, the facility never reopened to operators.