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

shifts/by separate staff, which in some cases posed administrative and cost
restrictions to operators.
There are an increasing number of recycling and recovery treatment facilities being
developed in Ireland to deal with the growing amount of segregated recyclable
material. The degree to which charging can be considered responsible for this is
difficult to estimate.
At the household level, it seems clear that one undesirable innovation is the tendency
to resort to (increased) burning of waste. Some households may also choose not to
avail themselves of a service, though whether and how this has changed as a
consequence of PBU is not clear. Others may simply choose to deliver waste direct to
available facilities. On the more positive side, there may be increased sorting of
wastes, and an improvement in waste prevention behaviours. However, an
assessment of the extent of these effects across Ireland is not available.
7.10 Social and Distributional Consequences
A study was completed in 2004 by the Department of Geography in Trinity College, on
“Environmental attitudes and behaviour: values, actions and waste management”. 146
This survey revealed that respondents understood that it was necessary to pay for
waste management. However there was concern that the level of waste charges did
not reflect the standard of service provided. Providing a pay-by-weight system was a
popular suggestion amongst respondents who felt people would then attain a double
benefit for reducing waste– moral (in terms of benefiting future generations and the
environment) and financial (in terms of saving money).
As mentioned above, a study following the introduction of PBU suggested that around
three-quarters of respondents thought PBU was fair.
As mentioned previously, the overwhelming majority of the population have not
experienced others using their bins. Experience of this tends to be confined to those
in rented accommodation. Therefore, evasion of payment in terms of the pollution
pays principle does not seem to occur through use of neighbours bins.
Some Local Authorities point to what they identify as a broader expense base
concerning waste management (over which costs need to be recovered) than that
which is imposed on private operators. There is a divergence among Local Authorities
as to what constitutes their public service obligations in the provision of waste
management services. Some Local Authorities point out that there is no specific
obligation placed upon them under the Waste Management Acts to provide a
household waste collection service, and in some cases have withdrawn totally from
household waste collection; other Local Authorities interpret their public service
obligations as requiring the provision of a networked waste management service,
where the efficacy and efficiency in the provision of household waste collection is
influenced by the costs of provision of other service elements e.g. infrastructure in
146 EPA /TCD Anna Davies, Frances Fahy Honora Meade & David Taylor (2005) Environmental
Attitudes and Behaviour: Values, Actions and Waste Management,
113
International Review of Waste Policy: Annexes