I propose to take Questions Nos. 241, 253, 264 and 278 together.
It is widely recognised that there are difficulties associated with the collection of household waste in bags, including:
- littering caused by ripped bags;
- health and safety issues for collectors, where sharp objects are placed in bags;
- litter caused by fly-tipping on streets/areas, where bag collections take place;
- little or no segregation of recyclable or food waste; and
- inability to gather data on waste collected for statistical and environmental reporting purposes.
As a result of such problematic issues, I am aware of at least one local authority which has already (through bye-laws) removed the option for householders to present household waste in bags for collection.
With the above in mind, and the planned introduction of pay-by-weight charging which cannot be easily applied to bags, a decision was taken in April 2015 to phase-out the use of bags for household waste collection, where ‘wheelie bins’ could be accommodated.
My Department, in consultation with local authorities, has set criteria to be applied nationally with a view to phasing out bags, with the exception of areas where it is not practical to use ‘wheelie bins’. Local authorities have been requested to designate areas as not being suitable for wheelie bin collections (i.e. designate areas which should remain on bag collections) and are working through this process.
In brief, the criteria for undertaking the exercise to designate ‘bag collection areas’ are as follows:
- No space within the boundary of the property (front, rear or side) to store 3 bins.
- Physical features which make it difficult to move a bin to the front edge of the property or nearest boundary for presentation, e.g. steep gradient and or steps (the advice of a Roads Engineer should be sought) or that would present an unreasonable difficulty.
- The area (e.g. street) is too narrow for a refuse collection vehicle to access properties and the nearest Designated Collection Point or suitable presentation point is greater than 100m from the property (again, the advice of a Roads Engineer should be sought on this issue).
- Where the Local Authority is notified of exceptional circumstances by a householder / resident and the Local Authority certifies same.
Many local authorities have now completed the process of designating areas where bag collections may continue, if applicable, and should be contacted for further information.
It is important to note that while pay by weight is not being introduced on a mandatory basis, it is open to collectors to charge on a pay-by-weight basis, as many already do. Approximately 20% of households are already on a pay-by-weight charge of some form and are happy with that service.
The issue of households who have moved from bags to bins in the context of the current agreements will be discussed with industry this week. Notwithstanding the difficulties associated with trying to accommodate customers who use bags and in respect of whom the collector has no data on last year’s weights or usage, I am confident that a reasonable and fair solution will be found to address this issue.