LOWRY WELCOMES CHANGES ON GREEN BIN RECYCLYING

Michael Lowry TD welcomes the decision by Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government Simon Coveney, in cancelling plans to introduce a mandatory minimum pay-by-weight charge for Green Bin waste.

The charge had been part of a new nationwide pay-by-weight system and was due to come into force as and from July 1st, 2016. These minimum charges had been specified at 11c per kg for black bin waste, 6c for brown bin and 2c for green bin.

Michael Lowry stated “It made no logical sense to apply a charge by weight to a recycling bin. While regional waste authorities have predicted that landfill waste could be reduced by up to 25%, I believe that this 25% reduction would undoubtedly have contributed to even more illegal dumping on our rural roadsides and an even greater reduction in proper recycling.

Already problems regarding the cleaning up of illegal dumps are costing Tipperary County Council vast sums of money and are also greatly hampering the efforts of the many voluntary Tidy Towns and other groups in the county. WEEE Ireland’s recent visit to Thurles & Templemore gave an opportunity to bring along old redundant electrical appliances for recycling thus eliminating the temptation to dump illegally in our scenic countryside.

Anything that discourages recycling is unsound and even greater attempts to recycle needs to be further encouraged. If recycling is to succeed it needs to be free to all communities. I am delighted that the Government have fully recognised that introducing such proposed charges would have had a total detrimental effect on householders penalising them for disposing their waste responsibly. I now look forward to further positive support from all waste operators across the country”, concluded Deputy Lowry.