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New bin charges will see individual bags banned

Councils will have the power to allow people living in areas unsuitable for wheelie bin collection be able to use them.

Updated 15.45 

NEW BIN CHARGES will see the collection of individual bags banned at a national level.

The ‘pay-by-weight’ legislation will take effect this summer and will change the way the public pay for bin collection.

Some homeowners currently without wheelie bins will no longer be able to leave out individual bin bags for collection. 

However, exemptions will be made for those living in areas where landscape prevents collection of wheelie bins (for example, where an access way is too narrow or too steep), or where there is a lack of storage space (for example, in a terrace house with no garden). 

This means that many flats in Ireland’s urban centres are likely to be exempt.

In a statement to TheJournal.ie, a spokesperson for the Department of the Environment said these areas will be “determined by local authorities in accordance with guidelines issued by the Department”.

In these cases the bags will be exempt from the weight requirements.

The new system will do away with annual flat fees from 1 July.

Green bin charge

This follows Environment Minister Alan Kelly today defending the change in the way that public will be paying for their bins.

Alan Kelly visits homelessness service Environment Minister Alan Kelly Niall Carson / PA Wire Niall Carson / PA Wire / PA Wire

Specifically, controversy had arisen over charges for green recycling bins – which some members of the public will now be paying for the first time.

But, according to a statement released by Kelly today: “While some people might think that this will mean that they are to be charged for the first time for the recycling bin, the reality is that all households have been charged in some way for this service.

Where a collector offered this bin at a zero charge, the true price was reflected in higher residual waste charges. In other words, the recycling bin was paid for by hidden cross-subsidisation.

So will we be better off?

The Department of the Environment has said that breaking down figures available from the EPA and the CSO has shown that 87% of households will see a reduction in their waste bills.

Of the rest, 8.5% will see no change in their bills and just under 5% will see an increase in their bills.

The department has said that the new measures aim at reducing waste, and could result in as much as 440,000 tonnes of waste being diverted away from landfills each year.

Is this actually how it is going to play out? 

The pay-by-weight legislation – which had originally been scheduled to be introduced last summer – has already been piloted in the Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown area where a drop in the amount of waste being put out by the public has already been noted.

It is difficult to know at the moment exactly how much individuals will be paying for the different bin charges – as costs between providers can vary, with a person’s address also being a factor.

However, the department has told TheJournal.ie that minimum charges will be in place, and work out as follows:

  • Recycling / Green Bin – 2 cents a kilo
  • Food waste / brown bin – 6 cents a kilo 
  • Residual waste / black bin – 11 cents a kilo

On the potential benefit that the change could bring, Minister Kelly went on to say:

“The message is, the more you put into your green and brown bins, the less you pay. It’s better for the environment and the more we can use waste as a resource for energy, remake plastic materials and develop an effective and efficient waste sector.”

Update: The Department of the Environment wish to clarify that the changes do not impact on people putting their refuse into plastic bags and then into their wheelie bins.  

First published 12.20pm 

Read: Cork, Donegal and Galway are being very naughty when it comes to clean water

Also: Good news: Ireland is set for 1,500+ new jobs

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176 Comments
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    Mute Seosamh
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    Jan 13th 2021, 9:01 AM

    Big business are the only ones making serious money during this, small businesses fending for themselves.

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    Mute Michael Kelly
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    Jan 13th 2021, 9:07 AM

    @Seosamh: So you don’t welcome the creation of over 1000 jobs? And Aldi from what I know are decent employers. I see the same people working in my local one for years.

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    Mute Nioe
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    Jan 13th 2021, 9:20 AM

    @Michael Kelly: they’re not creating jobs. People don’t eat twice as much food they just change where they buy. They are just taking market share from other irish shops, corner shops, markets etc which probably provide more jobs per euro spent.

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    Mute Dobby Dooo Dooo
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    Jan 13th 2021, 9:24 AM

    @Nioe: We all have a choice of where we shop. I do a supermarket shop and still support smaller local shops for meat, fish, newspaper etc. And the local shops in my area are always busy…

    55
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    Mute Jim Beatty
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    Jan 13th 2021, 9:40 AM

    @Nioe: nail on the head

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    Mute Nioe
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    Jan 13th 2021, 10:13 AM

    @Dobby Dooo Dooo: of course we choose where to shop. I have no issue with aldi or tesco or whoever. All I’m saying is that a certain amount of money is spent and certain number of people are employed in the grocery sector, which will rise with population. That does not jump overnight because a new shop opens, it just moves around with market share. It is not job or demand creation. It is market share expansion.

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    Mute Earth Traveller
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    Jan 13th 2021, 11:41 AM

    @Nioe: There are other factors too. The country’s population has grown by about 30 percent over the last 20 years. That creates new demand.

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    Mute Nioe
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    Jan 13th 2021, 12:13 PM

    @Earth Traveller: I said that in my comment above.

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    Mute Berkieahern3
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    Jan 13th 2021, 1:19 PM

    @Jim Beatty: you can be sure the nail you buy in Super valu is twice the price of the one in Aldi though!!

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    Mute Seosamh
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    Jan 13th 2021, 1:36 PM

    @Michael Kelly: My gripe is not with Aldi, it’s the so called government.

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    Mute Leitrim303
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    Jan 13th 2021, 5:46 PM

    @Nioe: who can afford to shop in a corner shop

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    Mute Stephen East
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    Jan 13th 2021, 9:27 AM

    Local Aldi and Lidl they restrict people going in but once in its a free for all, Always felt these shops workers are under a lot of pressure as i see them running around like headless chickens almost running with pallets barely looking if anyone is there and when i have seen people talking to workers they almost look irritated like they are thinking stop talking to me i need to get the shelves filled

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    Mute Brian Madden
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    Jan 13th 2021, 9:49 AM

    @Stephen East: I think the staff in my local aldi and lidl are very helpful. It’s not a free for all. People might browse longer in the meat or fruit and vegetable section. Do you expect the staff to move people along once inside?

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    Mute Sean Dalton
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    Jan 13th 2021, 10:33 AM

    @Stephen East: its personal responsibility when your in a shop. What do you want staff with cattle prods at each aisle moving people along?

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    Mute Tom Houlihan
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    Jan 13th 2021, 11:41 AM

    This is incorrect. They will
    Not create ‘jobs’. You won’t eat more because there is another supermarket in town. You may just buy less in the other supermarkets and they will lay off staff .

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    Mute Berkieahern3
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    Jan 13th 2021, 1:17 PM

    Fair play, they seem like descent employers. Same staff in the shop in my town for over 10 years now. And nice people aswell.

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    Mute Mary Walshe
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    Jan 13th 2021, 1:41 PM

    @Berkieahern3:
    And a lot of their products are Irish produced. Every so often they stock stuff by small producers starting out in business.

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    Mute Virgil
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    Jan 13th 2021, 10:38 AM

    As you enter Clifden, capital of Connemara, the first thing you see is… Aldi. Ah well, I suppose you can’t eat the landscape

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    Mute Joe Vlogs
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    Jan 13th 2021, 2:08 PM

    @Virgil: great thing too since it arrived. Locals are saved a one and a half hour drive to Galway or Westport to find a grocery store. Connemara is not just a summer holiday destination…people actually live here too.

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    Mute Declan McArdle
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    Jan 13th 2021, 9:14 AM

    What about opening stores in Northern Ireland???

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    Mute thomas patrick
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    Jan 13th 2021, 9:15 AM

    @Declan McArdle: take your issues to the Telegraph

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    Mute Cian Nolan
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    Jan 13th 2021, 9:55 AM

    @Declan McAr

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    Mute Declan McArdle
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    Jan 13th 2021, 10:14 AM

    @thomas patrick: Belfast Telegraph or the Toryograph in the UK?

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    Mute Pat Murphy
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    Jan 13th 2021, 11:09 AM

    @Declan McArdle: not in the eu so lol

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    Mute Aunties
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    Jan 13th 2021, 10:02 AM

    Beep beep beep.

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    Mute Maalouf
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    Jan 13th 2021, 12:32 PM

    I always shop and support local business. That’s why I only shop in Tesco Metro.

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    Mute Michael Kelly
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    Jan 13th 2021, 11:27 AM

    Good news we need it

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    Mute Dave
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    Jan 13th 2021, 4:48 PM

    A friend of mine loves working for Aldi but is always busy, she barely gets any free time and her day consists of “Manager required at till 3″ ” Till 4 will now be open”…

    Only for it to close 2 minutes later and a further 1 minute later shes back at it again ” Till 3 will now be open”

    4
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