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

11.8 Response from Public and Industry
There is probably a low level of awareness, on the part of the public, regarding the
levy. As the landfill levy is not a direct charge, but rather is subsumed in waste
collection charges, the public in general would probably not be aware of its existence.
While the landfill levy is stated on invoices, for businesses that produce little waste,
the landfill levy is minimal. For an office, the average landfill levy on an invoice may
be an integer number of euros per month.
It seems that the landfill levy is very much obscured from view as it remains
(currently) a small part in the total costs of landfilling (refer to Table 11-3 above).
Furthermore, the link between charging households and the landfill levy is not a direct
one, even where collectors make use of weight-based charging. For example, Indecon
report that in Cork, weight-based charges were as high as €0.46 per kg of residual
waste. 216 In some other cases where weight-based charges are in place, the link
between charge rates and landfill gate fees appears somewhat more closely aligned,
though this should not be taken as evidence of a firm link between the two.
As detailed in the section above, the landfill levy revenues are directed into the
Environmental Fund, which is made available to support local authority run projects in
waste management. This arrangement has been highlighted by private sector
operators as unfair, since in the Irish market, the private sector competes with local
authorities. Therefore the Environmental Fund potentially becomes a source of
competitive advantage for local authorities.
11.9 Effects on Technical Change / Innovation
As far as municipal waste is concerned, the levy has probably had very limited impact
on technical change and innovation. Weighbridges at landfill sites were required in
order to manage the landfill levy but by 2002 most landfill sites had already installed
weighbridges as a requirement of waste licences granted by the EPA. The
Environmental Fund might have achieved more in this regard.
11.10 Social and Distributional Consequences
The landfill levy is paid by the contractor delivering waste to the landfill. Costs are
ultimately passed on directly to those producing the waste. In the case where pay by
weight collection systems are in place, costs can be transmitted more directly.
The low level of the levy almost certainly implies that whilst the levy might have the
potential to be regressive, social and distributional consequences are likely to be
minimal.
216 Indecon International in association with the Institute of Local Government Studies at University of
Birmingham (2006) Indecon Review of Local Government Financing, Report Commissioned by the
Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.
195
International Review of Waste Policy: Annexes