International Review of Waste Management Policy - Department of ...

Within the following section we assess the waste collection systems that have been
operating over the past few years against the available data on waste tonnages
collected and collection costs.
The most common collection systems that have been operating in Ireland over the
past few years are twin bin, alternating fortnightly collections of residual waste and
recyclable materials. The basis for the annual levies for waste collection faced by
individual households is often not clear, in many cases not even to the households
themselves. As such, we attempt here to draw together information on the typical
fees paid by households in a number of areas around the country.
Anecdotal evidence from an OLAM Briefing presentation for the CCMA Environment
Committee suggests that the green bin recycling services cost the four Dublin local
authorities €27 million per annum in 2006. 1277 This includes the costs associated
with collecting, transporting, segregating, processing, shipping and marketing etc. It
goes on to state that Repak contributes €1 million, while the sale of the processed
product collected from households generates approximately €500,000. A significant
cost, therefore, is attributable just to providing the collection services.
Dividing the annual €27 million by the total of 380,000 households in these
authorities suggests providing the services costs €70 per household per year for a
fortnightly wheeled bin recycling collection service. This assumes that all households
use the local authority service, which they might not due to a) their opting out (dealing
with waste themselves) or b) their using the services of a private sector company. If
the number is smaller, the average cost is higher. Total captures of recyclables at the
kerbside under this system stand at around 180kg/hh/yr. It is important to note that
where household waste services are concerned, ‘cost per household’ are a somewhat
better measure than ‘cost per tonne’ (though both provide relevant information). This
is because:
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� The costs of different elements of a service can contribute to reductions
elsewhere;
� Different systems may draw more or less material into the waste stream (and
those that draw more in will have lower costs per tonne than those that do
not); and finally,
� What matters most from the household perspective is what they need to pay.
The following review seeks to bring together more evidence on collection services and
their associated costs in a snapshot of instances across the country. The
government’s circular 06/06 sought to assemble detail on the collection services
operated in individual counties together with fee structures and the charges levied.
Extracts from this data, supplemented by information gained from council and
1277 Murphy, R (2006) Managing The Environment: A Key Financial Challenge For Local Authorities,
OLAM Briefing for CCMA Environment Committee, February 2006.
International Review of Waste Policy: Annexes