Dan Boyle (Cork South Central, Green Party)
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Question 293: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to the fact that Cork City Council introduced a nominal charge of €2 for the use of the Kinsale Road civic amenity; and his views on whether this is a perversion of the polluter pays principle and that local authorities should continue to give every encouragement possible to householders to recycle materials without charging them for the service. [3200/07]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Approximately 1,200 tonnes per annum of domestic recyclables are treated at the Kinsale Road civic amenity site each year. The cost to Cork City Council for the collection, transport and separation of these materials prior to recycling ranges from €35 to €300 per tonne depending on the types of material involved. While the setting of waste charges is a matter for individual local authorities, it is not apparent that a nominal charge of €2 per car for the use of the facility would contravene the polluter pays principle.

It should be noted that Cork City Council provides a fortnightly collection for dry recyclables to approximately 35,000 households and that there are also forty free bring sites situated throughout the city. A Chem Car service is also provided free of charge by the City Council, approximately six times per year, for the disposal of hazardous waste streams such as paint, solvents and medicines. Facilities for the disposal of WEEE are also provided free of charge.