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

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One <strong>of</strong> the waste management commitments in the Programme for Government is to<br />

ensure that ‘flat rates on waste disposal will be abolished and a mandatory system <strong>of</strong><br />

weight-related charges for waste collection introduced.’ 140<br />

7.2 <strong>Policy</strong> Context and Reason for Introduction<br />

PBU domestic waste pricing charges households per unit <strong>of</strong> waste placed out for<br />

waste collection. A kilogram <strong>of</strong> waste, a bag <strong>of</strong> waste and a bin <strong>of</strong> waste, for example,<br />

can all be considered a unit for waste charging purposes. PBU charges were deemed<br />

appropriate by the <strong>Department</strong> <strong>of</strong> Environment, Heritage and Local Government<br />

(DoEHLG) as a means to implement the ‘polluter-pays principle’ in the waste<br />

management sector.<br />

The decision to introduce PBU domestic waste charges was made on the back <strong>of</strong> a<br />

number <strong>of</strong> key waste policy documents released by the <strong>Department</strong> (see Annex<br />

6.3.1.1). PBU charges were selected for implementation as a route to reducing<br />

Ireland’s dependence on landfill and increasing Ireland’s recycling rates to reach the<br />

national target for 2013.<br />

Such charges give the public a financial incentive to reduce the amount <strong>of</strong> waste<br />

produced and presented for collection and disposal. In theory, PBU charges send a<br />

more accurate pricing signal for generation <strong>of</strong> refuse and therefore encourage<br />

householders to reduce waste, recycle more and change waste management<br />

habits. 141<br />

7.3 When was the <strong>Policy</strong> Introduced?<br />

The policy context, as mentioned in the section above, means that even prior to the<br />

Ministerial Circular and the 2007 <strong>Waste</strong> Collection Permit Regulations, charging for<br />

waste collection to householders had been gradually becoming more widespread:<br />

In 2004, the deadline for the implementation was set out in Circular WIR/0904, ‘for<br />

the completion <strong>of</strong> the changeover to weight or volume based charging systems was<br />

set as 1st January 2005’. Given that recent research suggests that the changeover is<br />

still incomplete, this indicates a lack <strong>of</strong> monitoring and enforcement <strong>of</strong> the expected<br />

change.<br />

140 EPA (2008) A Nationwide <strong>Review</strong> <strong>of</strong> Pay-By-Use (PBU) Domestic <strong>Waste</strong> Collection Charges in<br />

Ireland, Strive Report Series 9<br />

141 D.V. Nestor and M.J. Podolsky (1998) Assessing incentive based environmental policies for<br />

reducing household waste disposal. Contemporary Economic <strong>Policy</strong> 16(4): 401-411; V. Linderh<strong>of</strong>, P.<br />

Kooreman, M. Allers, and D. Wiersma (2001) Weight-based pricing in the collection <strong>of</strong> household waste<br />

the Oostzaan case. Resource and Energy Economics 23 (4) 359-371.<br />

105<br />

<strong>International</strong> <strong>Review</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Waste</strong> <strong>Policy</strong>: Annexes

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