A pay-by-weight system for waste disposal will be introduced throughout Co. Roscommon, affecting all households, from July 1st.
At Monday’s monthly meeting of Roscommon County Council, Kevin Swift, the Regional Co-ordinator of Connacht-Ulster Waste Region, gave a presentation on the imminent changes. From July 1st, households will be charged by their waste collector based on the weight of household waste they produce.
Although the charges will not be revealed under early June, Mr. Swift said that it was expected that a fixed charge, similar to line rental for a telephone, and a weight charge would apply.
At present, households are charged a flat fee for waste disposal.
“We are moving away from flat single charges, moving towards charging people on the weight of household waste they present,” Mr. Swift said.
“Each type of waste – be it recycling, food waste or general waste – will have a specific charge per kilogram.”
Currently, some households, normally of single occupancy, purchase waste bags for collection by their waste collector. However, from July 1st, it is likely that this method will be discontinued in most, if not all, areas in the county.
From that time, customers availing of a kerbside household waste collection service will present their waste in bins provided by the waste collector. There are three principal streams – general waste, recycling and food waste – with associated bins in distinctive colours.
All bins are assigned to the households by aligning the embedded microchip, contained in the bin, with the name and address of the customer. Waste collectors are decreed to collect recycling and food waste at least fortnightly.
Householders not availing of an existing kerbside collection service will still be obligated to manage their waste in an environmentally responsible manner, such as by using a civic amenity site.
Mr. Swift said: “The overall objective of these changes is to encourage behavioural change and incentivise householders to segregate their waste.
“The potential benefit is that more resources will be recycled or recovered from household waste and less precious resources will be consigned to landfill.”
