Update 2.17pm: Environment Minister Simon Coveney, in consultation with his counterpart in Denis Naughten, is to remove the controversial minimum charge for the green bin.
Originally, the Department of the Environment had set those minimum prices at 2c per kilo of green waste, 6c for brown bins and 11c for black.
“Basically, there will be no minimum price for the collection of recycling at kerbside,” said Eoin Deegan from the Department of the Environment.
“It gives the collector a little bit more flexibility in terms of their charging mechanism given that the material in the recycle bin is of variable value.
“I think the change reflects the fact that we have a new Minister who has his own views on waste policy and the implementation of collection of household waste.”
Green Party leader Eamon Ryan is welcomed the news.
“I’m glad they have – I think it was the wrong call in the first place,” he said.
“In fairness to Simon Coveney, he’s recognised that and has reversed engines – even if it is very strange on the same day that the whole scheme is being announced, later the Minister comes out and said: ‘Oh, by the way, we’re not going to have a chanrge on the green bin.
“But I think it’s a good thing – I think the risk was that it would have sent out a signal to stop people recycling.”
Update 1.52pm: Waste operators say they have been caught by surprise by a decision to scrap the pay-by-weight minimum charge for Green bins.
John Dunne from Panda says they will have to reconsider the cost for all their bins after the U-turn by Minister Coveney.
“We’re a long time calculating our charging rates, and now, out of the blue, the rug has been pulled, to some degree, and we have to go back to base now and figure it all out again,
“Does this mean that nobody in Dublin, for example, will charge for the green bin? I don’t know.
“It’s a message coming down the track and we have to be cognisant of it and, as I say, it’s only this morning we heard about it so what the significance of it is going to be, we won’t know until we work through the numbers.”
Earlier: The Environment Minister appears to have bowed to pressure, and is set to remove the minimum charge for recycling waste.
Green bins were to be priced at 2c a kilo, compared to 6c for brown bins and 11c for black bins, but Simon Coveney will introduce a change to the law, removing the minimum charge for recyclables.
Great news! Following our call on Monday to remove green bin pay-by-weight charges, Min Coveney has confirmed that they will be scrapped!
— Green Party Ireland (@greenparty_ie) May 18, 2016
Critics of minimum pricing said it was regressive, and would discourage recycling.
The mandatory pay-by-weight regime is being introduced in July, although some households have been paying by weight for a long time.
The Department of the Environment said that the vast majority of households will reduce their waste bills, but waste operators have yet to announce what they will charge per bin.
Green Party Leader Eamon Ryan hailed the news today.
“We absolutely welcome the news that the minimum charges on recycling collection will not now go ahead,” said Ryan.
“I’m glad that the new Government have recognised that introducing these charges would have been a retrograde step, and penalised householders for disposing of waste responsibly.”
