There are suggestions today that bin charges could soar after the Minister’s announcement of a new collection system yesterday and if that becomes a reality it could increase illegal dumping around the country as the cost of the disposal of waste rises.
I am all for minimising waste and for people to segregating their waste and recycling, but it is now a free for all with regard to the 67 waste disposal companies around the country and they will now be able to charge what they like which is not good news for the general public. I will be watching what happens over the next few weeks in this regard but if there are huge increases then a lot of people will decide not to pay or indeed may not be able to afford to pay, and then we will be at risk of even more illegal dumping which is already a huge problem.
The waste companies will now introduce a charging regime as contracts come up for renewal and we await to see how that is structured. Most people who live in rural areas do not have access to a brown bin and that is also a problem going forward with regard to food and compostable waste. I sincerely hope that this new system will not lead to another rip-off of ordinary people who are already paying through the nose for everything. Previous experience in other areas of economic activity does not bode well in that regard but it will be interesting to see what happens as the new system is rolled out.
