Waste Disposal Charges

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 June 2017

Tuesday, 27 June 2017

Questions (63)

John Curran

Question:

63. Deputy John Curran asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment further to Question No. 1643 of 16 September 2016, the details of the new pricing structures that will be applied by waste collection companies following the price freeze for waste collection which is due to expire at the end of June 2017; if the significant price increases that were attempted to be applied in 2016 will not be a feature of the new pricing structure; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29468/17]

Oral answers (6 contributions)

Deputy John Curran

As the Minister will be aware, the proposed introduction of pay-by-weight waste collection last year gave rise to significant controversy when companies tried to increase prices significantly. As part of a voluntary agreement that was subsequently reached, a price freeze was introduced to give the Minister an opportunity to work with waste collection companies to find a way forward so that rates of recycling, etc., can be increased. Given that the voluntary agreement is now coming to an end, I ask the Minister to provide an update on the new pricing structures and arrangements that will come about as a result of the most recent discussions.

Deputy Denis Naughten

I can give the Deputy an update that is literally hot off the press. I intend to introduce an incentivised pricing structure that will provide the flexibility for customers to be offered a suite of pricing options to encourage householders to reduce and segregate their waste.  This approach is in line with the Government's policy as articulated in a 2012 policy document, A Resource Opportunity - Waste Management Policy in Ireland. A specific measure in the policy provides that the household waste collection sector will "operate pricing structures designed to incentivise environmentally sustainable behaviours by households in terms of waste reduction and segregation".

Incentivised pricing should encourage us, as a community, to prevent and reduce the amount of waste we produce and to utilise the value of our waste through reuse, recycling and recovery. This will also enable Ireland to meet its legal obligations as well as current and future targets under EU waste legislation.

The amount of waste being sent to landfill has increased in the past two years. Last year, local authorities had to exercise emergency powers on two occasions to make additional landfill capacity available. Had it not been made available, we could not have allowed the collection of waste in this country. We must act to encourage further waste reduction to avert a return to an over-dependence on landfill. The introduction of an incentivised pricing structure for household waste collection will be an important measure in this regard.

If we do nothing about the amount of material going into landfill, within the next three years there will be an 18% shortfall in landfill capacity, effectively meaning we will have no landfill capacity for two months of the year. There are a couple of solutions. One is that we expand the existing four landfills. We had 24 in 2011 but are down to four at the moment and I do not think any colleague from the vicinity of these landfills would want that to happen. The other option is to open up new landfills, and I am willing to listen to any suggestions from Members if they have a proposed site for a new landfill. Finally, we can reduce the amount of material going into landfill and this is my preference.

Deputy John Curran

The Minister knows my views on this. I am very supportive of reducing the waste that goes into landfill and increasing recycling, but I will go back to what happened last year. When the proposals were made to go to a pay-by-weight system to encourage people to change to green bins, and to brown bins for biodegradable material, the people in Dublin who had been used to a multi-bin system saw very significant price increases of 50%, 60% or 70% in the new regime. They were able to compare, year by year and like for like, what the new charging regime would be. I fully accept what the Minister is doing and support pay-by-weight, as well as the diversion from waste to recyclable, but it has to be in tandem with a realistic pricing structure, and this was not the case last summer. We did not have a fair pricing structure and the Minister of the day had to take emergency action. I support the Minister's programme but it has to be underpinned by a guarantee that the increases we were forced to look at last year will not be on the table again this year.

Deputy Denis Naughten

I am not proceeding with the pay-per-kilogram scheme which was proposed two years ago and again last year. It was unfair, it was too inflexible to meet the different household circumstances in this country, it ignored the issue of incontinence wear and it penalised those who recycled more. We are going to provide flexibility for operators to ensure that if people segregate more or produce less waste, they will pay less. We will introduce an incentivised charging regime.

The State does not control or set prices. If anyone wants evidence of that they should look at the parliamentary questions tabled by colleagues which noted that there was a voluntary freeze in prices in the past 12 months but that operators were breaching it. I have no control over prices. I can set the regulatory environment and I have done so to allow us as much flexibility as possible and to allow operators to put in place as many types of charging regimes as possible. We are, however, getting rid of the flat-rate charge because it does not incentivise a reduction in the amount going to landfill.

Deputy John Curran

I have the Minister's replies to parliamentary questions and he has been consistent in saying the companies set the rate, not the Government. However, it was the action of the previous Minister in trying to introduce pay-by-weight that led to this dramatic shift. It was driven by a Government policy decision and the Minister rowed back on it. The Minister said there would be a range of charging options in different companies and that the flat rate would be gone. I am speaking from the consumer's point of view. As companies roll out their new suite of charging options, I urge the Minister to oblige them to give their existing customers the breakdown and advice as to their most suitable option based on their previous usage. The intent of the legislation is to go increasingly towards recycling. A customer should be able to compare what they paid in the previous 12 months with what it would cost in the new programme. The Minister may not control prices but he does have a degree of control over this and he has some flexibility. I urge him to ensure there is transparency to avoid the chaos in the industry which there was this time last year.

Deputy Denis Naughten

Deputy Curran has raised a very important point. I do not know what powers I have in this area and I have to be very careful because of competition law. I commit to relaying the point directly to the 67 operators and to asking them to do this because it makes sense. Not all of them have a flat rate system and many have a user charge system, which they have done quite effectively, as Deputy Eugene Murphy and I have seen in our constituency. Over the next 12 to 15 months, as people transition from their current flat-rate charging regime to an incentivised system, it would make sense to advise them as to the most appropriate scheme for them, based on prior usage. I will relay that to the industry.

Questions Nos. 64 and 67 replied to with Written Answers.

Questions Nos. 68 and 69 answered with Question No. 58.