Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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1059. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government to explain the reason brown waste collection bins are charged for while green bins are free although brown bin waste is also recycled material; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42030/14]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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The charges applied by waste management companies are a matter between those companies and their customers, subject to compliance with all applicable environmental and other relevant legislation. However, it is important to note that the provision of a segregated collection service through a green bin is not “free” - even where a waste collector decides not to charge customers for collection of the green bin, there is nonetheless a cost associated with processing the contents of this bin, just as there is for processing brown bin or residual bin material. As part of the introduction of a new regulatory framework for the collection of household waste in 2015, I intend to introduce a general requirement that pricing plans incentivise the segregation of waste by households and the application of the waste hierarchy.