Pay by weight is back

Hello,

I accept that we as a nation could do a lot more in terms of keeping the country clean ... but I think we need both carrot and stick here, because old habits die hard.

Where are all the litter bins in the public parks for example, or on the beaches ? Time and time again I see parks and beaches covered with litter of one form or another (often food wrappers, or plastic bottles so at least some of these could be recycled). Is it really too much to ask that we see more bins provided, to help dispose of waste properly ?

Why not see more more pressure put on retailers, fast food outlets etc. to use materials that can be recycled ? If we can change things at the source, then it helps the end result does it not ?

I have about as much confidence in our current minister to do something positive to help our rubbish problem, as I do in him to successfully roll out broadband to rural Ireland (well, perhaps excluding his own home town which I'm sure will end up with 1,000mb downloads before he finishes his term) :(
 
The councils are in one respect in a Catch-22. They need to put out more bins for people to put rubbish in, but if they do so then people use it to dump household refuse in. An increase in waste charges will only see more of that,

Having said that, there is also the fact that some people frankly are utter pigs. House at the end of my street has a leather suite in the front garden, a broken telly, a trailer with 2 flat tyres and God knows what else dumped in it. All the people there are doing is raising another generation of pigs who will know no better. There needs to be serious fines thrown at flytippers, 4 and 5 figure sums if needed.

I certainly believe fast food outlets should be made move everything to recyclables, and coffee shops as well, I was shocked when I found out that disposable coffee cups are rarely recycled

However we also have to accept that some tough decisions need to be made. Poolbeg is probably needed, even if it may be in the wrong place.
 
The Catch-22 was evident in Killarney recently, the street was strewn with rubbish, which looks bad for any area in the Country, not least a major tourist area.

When I finished my own coffee, I eventually found a bin on the walk back.
The following morning though, the area was spotless.

Also, it is sad, but when ever I have seen the street bin being used for general waste, it's usually an elderly person. But, an older person who probably only needs to put a bin out once a month or two, would feel hard done by paying any form of standing charge to look at their wheelie bin sitting there.
 
I've been with Panada for 9 years now and I've always paid by weight and per lift as well as a fixed charge at the beginning of the year. My annual bills have been:

2013 - €281 (there would have been nappies in rubbish this year)
2014 - €218
2015 - €236
2016 - €229

That's for a family of 4.

We got a notice from Panada a few months back about people putting the wrong rubbish into the green bins. I can understand their position. It doesn't take much for the green bins to be soiled. When they are, it is a cost to Panda. Who should pay for this? Panda? Or should they increase costs for everyone? Or just impose a cost on the person who is soiling the bin? Instead of people giving out about these additional costs, maybe they should take personal responsibility for their own rubbish and put it in the correct bin. The green bins all comes with a Do and Don't list.
https://www.panda.ie/household/what-can-i-put-in-my-bin.html
 
Nordkapp said:
Let the increased charges begin

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ire...ers-face-fines-for-using-wrong-bins-1.3144570
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I'm all in favour of that, and these fines, or at least the threats of them are nothing new, at least SDCC used to issue them before privatisation.

The amount of contamination in recyclables here means that each year ~100,000 tonnes of what was supposed to be recycled gets diverted to landfill or is shipped abroad for hand sorting (or more likely landfill). So whereas the operators can sell clean recyclable material, they end up having to pay for disposal of all contaminated waste. The options are we all foot the bill for this or the operators start targeting those responsible for the contamination. I know which option I prefer.
 
Like Steven above I've been with Panda a long time and find them very good and quite resonable
My bills for the last three years average about €160, thats for two of us
The yearly bill also includes a service charge of €72.64
The Green bin goes out full every two weeks, the Brown bin when full about seven times a year and the Black bin, once a year now and is only 3/4 full

Am I right in thinking that the service charge is been dropped in favour of charging for the Green bin or is this going to be an additional charge ??
 
Cervelo said:
Am I right in thinking that the service charge is been dropped in favour of charging for the Green bin or is this going to be an additional charge ??
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Hasn't been fully thrashed out yet. The one piece that is clear is that flat-rate fees will no longer be allowed, that is pay an annual fee and that's your total cost regardless of how often you put your bins out. So any new deal will have to include an element of pay-per-weight or lift.
 
Leo said:
....The amount of contamination in recyclables here means that each year ~100,000 tonnes of what was supposed to be recycled gets diverted to landfill or is shipped abroad for hand sorting (or more likely landfill). So whereas the operators can sell clean recyclable material, they end up having to pay for disposal of all contaminated waste. The options are we all foot the bill for this or the operators start targeting those responsible for the contamination. I know which option I prefer.
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In principal, I would agree with you Leo.

I believe that I have seen reference made to our waste disposal companies finding things like soiled nappies in the green bins etc. which is simply inexcusable and should result in the offending party being fined.

That said, I also think there needs to be some serious work done on educating the public on exactly what is and is not acceptable for recycling - specifically when it comes to items that may be contaminated because they were once used to hold food, or certain liquids (but clearly have been emptied and perhaps rinsed out). I mean getting down to lots of practical examples, so everyone is 100% clear. Once the education piece is done, then by all means bring in fines for those offending.
 
How are people who are told to have their bin out before 6am, and to achieve this have to put their
bin out the night before, going to prevent their bin from being contaminated by some stranger over night.
 
pudds said:
How are people who are told to have their bin out before 6am, and to achieve this have to put their
bin out the night before, going to prevent their bin from being contaminated by some stranger over night.
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You would have to pay €40 - €50 euros for a gravity lock... that might work for a personal bin but what about common bins in an apartment block or company? Impossible for the management company to police.
 
Cervelo said:
One thing that I always found strange is that where I live (DLRCC) we can put glass in our green bin but according to their website nobody else can!!
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You certainly can't put glass into green bins in DCC... but this kind of discrepancy just adds to the confusion...
 
MrEarl said:
I believe that I have seen reference made to our waste disposal companies finding things like soiled nappies in the green bins etc. which is simply inexcusable and should result in the offending party being fined.
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Yeah, apparently nappies are quite common.

MrEarl said:
That said, I also think there needs to be some serious work done on educating the public on exactly what is and is not acceptable for recycling - specifically when it comes to items that may be contaminated because they were once used to hold food, or certain liquids (but clearly have been emptied and perhaps rinsed out).
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Some providers likely do a better job than others, but I think there's a lot of people who are just lazy or choose not to pay attention. Even where I work there are labels attached to the recycling bins clearly stating should and should not go in them, and yet supposedly well-educated people still put a lot of non-recyclables into the recycling bin. And in this instance there isn't even a financial incentive, it's just pure laziness.
 
Talk of contamination in used food containers etc is fatuous. Of course they're going to be contaminated if they've been used. It's stupid and counterproductive to expect people to dishwash containers before they're put in recycling.

We need a proper incineration-based system like they have elsewhere.
 
T McGibney said:
Talk of contamination in used food containers etc is fatuous. Of course they're going to be contaminated if they've been used. It's stupid and counterproductive to expect people to dishwash containers before they're put in recycling.
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If you dont wash the recylable containers is it not the same as putting food in the green bin??
 
Cervelo said:
Interesting article about Panda waste, might have to re-think my opinion about them been "reasonable"

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/irel...tough-new-bin-rules-start-next-week-1.3144570

One thing that I always found strange is that where I live (DLRCC) we can put glass in our green bin but according to their website nobody else can!!
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I always assumed that you could put glass in recycling bins so was surprised when they had it listed as a no on their site. Then someone told me on twitter that in some areas they do allow it. I'm in DLRCC too, so fingers crossed that's acceptable. Save me having to have a 3rd bin in the house for bottles!


When I was a kid, everything got thrown in the same bin and got collected for free. Fast forward to today and you're washing your rubbish before sorting it and putting it into different bins!!


Steven
http://www.bluewaterfp.ie (www.bluewaterfp.ie)
 
SBarrett said:
When I was a kid, everything got thrown in the same bin and got collected for free.
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Not second guessing your vintage, but they also had bottles for all liquid which had a deposit on return policy. This made sure that all young kids acted as clean up wardens rather than like nowadays. Nobody has mentioned the idea of return and deposit. I recall the US had tin can machines on the streets in the 80s so that the homeless actually collected these and got a reward. Guess it's cheaper just to allow plastic.
 
I'm 41 so I can remember those times. Also leaving the old milk bottles out to be collected by the milkman in the morning. That's about all the recycling we did.
 
T McGibney said:
Talk of contamination in used food containers etc is fatuous.
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What waste companies mean when saying contaminated is that they're contaminated to a point that the item itself cannot be recycled and likely contaminating other items alongside it in the bin. They don't need to be clean enough to re-use.
 
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