Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independent)
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282. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will investigate how annual charges can be kept at the rate of inflation or some other mechanism to protect households from an increase (details supplied); and if he will set up an investigation as to how the waste industry is implementing this new statute. [14990/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Government waste policy is predicated on the waste hierarchy as set out in the EU's Waste Framework Directive. A number of specific measures have been, and will continue to be, introduced to reduce the amount of waste generated in the State and to increase the segregation of waste which cannot be prevented in line with Government policy. The introduction of pay-by-weight charges for the collection of household waste is one such measure.

The legislation requires that the collector will charge for each kilogramme of waste collected. The Government has set a minimummandatory fee per kilogramme for the different types of household waste: 11 cent for black bin (residual waste), 6 cent for brown bin (food/organic waste) and I have decided that a zero cent minimumfee per kilogramme should be set for green bins (recyclate). The collector may also charge a service fee, which will typically cover staff, collection, administrative and back office, capital and overhead costs.

Given that the charging systems are moving to a more standardised format across the country, householders should be able to more easily compare the charges of different providers under the new system and choose the option that suits them best or is most cost effective.

I understand that a few waste collectors have already released details of their prices under pay by weight. I expect that we will have a fuller picture of the fees being charged in the coming days as more collectors release their charging details in the period leading up to 1 July, 2016.

In an open market, it has been, and will continue to be , a matter for the collector to set charges at the level they consider to be competitive, in compliance with the requirements of the legislation. Excessive pricing by individual companies will offer the opportunity for rival operators to provide their services at a cheaper price.

There is an opportunity for customers to minimise their waste costs by preventing waste and segregating waste through using the food waste and recyclable waste bins properly which will reduce the per kilogramme element of the charge to the household. In this regard, a pay-by-weight awareness campaign, launched on 18 May 2016, is being rolled out at national, regional and local levels and will give valuable advice to householders on minimising their waste management costs under pay-by-weight charging.