Bin tag prices rise by up to 50%

Local people struggling to make ends meet have been hit by a fresh blow with news that waste companies have increased the cost of having a bin emptied by up to 50%. One Athlone councillor said he didn't know how people would be able to afford increases such as these, given that another severe budget was looming. "We have squeezed so much of the orange that there's no juice left. I just don't know where the money is going to come from," said Cllr Kevin 'Boxer' Moran. The three waste companies in the Athlone area who provide a bin tag service - Oxigen, Allied Waste and Wallace Recycling - are now charging €10.50 for a refuse bin tag. Oxigen previously charged €7, meaning its price has gone up by 50% from this week. Allied Waste previously charged €7.50, so its rate of increase is 40%, while Wallace Recycling's charge has gone up by 31% from €8. The companies attributed the cost hike to the implementation on September 1 last of a 66% increase in the landfill levy which was announced by the previous Government. However, the waste companies have also increased the cost of their tags for emptying recycling bins. Oxigen and Wallace previously charged €3 for a recycling tag, while Allied Waste charged €4. All three companies now charge €4.50 for the service. A fourth waste disposal company operating locally, AES, operates a payment card service and it intends to contact its customers by post with details of a price increase from the start of next month. "This is not something that we're happy with by any means," said Ken O'Byrne of AES. "Unfortunately because of the business we're in and the tight margins we have no choice." When Wallace Recycling announced its price hike on facebook, customers reacted with frustration. One described it as "a whopper of an increase," while another called it "a disgrace." Last year, the Environment Minister John Gormley announced a series of phased increases in the landfill levy over the coming years. He said a "race to the bottom" had lowered the cost of dumping at landfill sites and this acted as a "disincentive to the other forms of disposal" such as recycling, mechanical and biological treatment. On September 1, the landfill levy paid by waste companies increased from €30 per tonne to €50 per tonne. It is due to be increased to €65 per tonne in 2012, and to €75 per tonne in 2013. As recently as 2008, the landfill levy was €15 per tonne. Cllr Moran pointed out that, in addition to ordinary householders, people operating hotels, restaurants and other businesses were now facing higher waste disposal costs. "People just can't afford these increases. A lot of people are worried about it, and the Government has to act," he said. A representative of St Vincent De Paul in Athlone declined to comment on the price increase but said the charity had been helping some people pay for bin tags even before these increases. Waste collection in Westmeath became fully-privatised in 2010, when the local authority withdrew its funding for waste collection services. Athlone Mayor Alan Shaw described the rise in big tag prices as "regrettable" but he said the cost to the consumer would be even higher if the council was still providing a service. "Had the local authority remained as the provider of waste collection services in Athlone, consumers would be paying between 15% and 20% higher for the service, even after accounting for the recent price increase," said Cllr Shaw. The price hikes are also likely to result in greater interest in organic waste collection services, which are, at present, more noticeable by their absence in the Athlone region. Also there are fears that the price rises could spark an increase in illegal dumping in bogs and countryside throughout the region.