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

not reflected in reduced costs to consumers. This may reduce householders’ ability to
see the real benefit of source reduction. 148
7.13 Evasion and Enforcement
Where pay-by-use is concerned, households’ response to charging for services is to
seek to reduce exposure to the charge. This can take forms which are both legal and
illegal in nature. Some, such as burning, are not illegal per se, but they may cause
nuisance. Emissions from domestic premises are covered under the Air Pollution Act
1987. This Act gives local authorities the lead role in control of air pollutants from
premises. Section 24(2) of the Act imposes a general obligation on the occupier ‘not
to cause or permit an emission in such a quantity or in such a manner as to be a
nuisance.’ The Act, though somewhat unspecific, is of significance to domestic
burning, though it is not exactly clear what constitutes a nuisance. The responses to
the survey could under-represent the amount of burning if householders are aware of
the Act and it is possible that there is uncertainty in the public mind about the legality
of burning and about differentiation by material.
In 2005 the EPA published a Report on “The Nature and Extent of Unauthorised
Waste Activity in Ireland”. This report sets out the findings of a nationwide
investigation by the EPA’s Office of Environmental Enforcement (OEE) on the nature
and extent of unauthorised waste management activities in Ireland from the period
1996 onward. This report stated:
115
“every year, in the region of 287,000 tonnes of household waste is not
presented for collection with this waste being disposed of by the householders
themselves. Many local authorities have reported recent increases in
backyard burning and fly-tipping of household waste which, anecdotally, is
being linked to the increases in household waste charges” 149 .
There appears, therefore, to be a problem in terms of lack of enforcement of matters
related to illegal tipping and burning in the Irish context. The extent to which this is
something which would occur in the absence of charging is unclear, though it seems
reasonable to believe that these are matters which are problematic even in the
absence of PBU, but which PBU exacerbates.
One can also argue that some collectors have evaded, or are still evading, the
requirement to implement PBU. By not enforcing the requirement to make PBU
mandatory, local authorities allow collectors to continue to operate on a flat fee basis.
Concerns have been raised by local authorities that they had little ability to enforce
PBU systems if private collectors did not use them. In principle, permits for private
waste-collection companies could contain more requirements with regards to PBU
charges, with the threat of revocation of the permit if a PBU system is not
implemented by the collector.
148 A. O Callaghan-Platt and A. Davies (2007) A Nationwide Review of Pay-By-Use Domestic Waste
Charges in Ireland, Interim Report to the EPA.
149 EPA (2005) The Nature and Extent of Unauthorised Waste Activity in Ireland, EPA, 2005.
International Review of Waste Policy: Annexes