Waste collector rubbishes pay-by-weight criticism

Anton McNulty

A WESTPORT waste collector has hit out at ‘scaremongering’ regarding recent comments on the introduction of ‘pay-by-weight’ claiming the vast majority of households will see a decrease in their collection bill.
The pay-by-weight method of waste collection will be introduced across the county on July 1 whereby households will be charged by the weight of their bins. The issue was raised at the recent monthly meeting of Mayo County Council with some councillors expressing concern it will lead to an increase in fly-tipping.
Stanley Bourke, of Bourke Waste, who currently operate a pay-by-weight option for their existing customers, believes the new system will benefit the majority of households.
“My biggest concern is that scaremongering can create a lot of damage. When people see these headlines they get afraid and for the vast majority of people they have nothing to fear. For the people who manage their waste properly they have nothing to fear whatsoever. Some will benefit and have cheaper bills than what they are paying now.
“At the moment approximately 50 percent of our customers are already on pay by weight and obviously they are quite happy. There are 50 percent who aren’t on it and of those there are some who will benefit and some who will have higher bills. The average waste bin is 30kg, once you are under that you will be fine. The vast majority are now under that figure,” he told The Mayo News.

Reducing waste
Sharon Cameron, Environmental Officer with Mayo County Council, explained that the introduction of pay-by-weight is to encourage recycling and reduce waste going to landfills.
“I pay a flat fee and I do everything as good as I can [to segregate waste and recycle] but I pay the same as someone who doesn’t make an effort. If you recycle well and cut down on waste there will be serious savings to be made,” she said.
Under the new regulations, a minimum charge has been set for the three bins to be collected. The general waste bin which goes to landfill will have a minimum charge of eleven cents per kilo, the brown bin for food waste will be six cents per kilo and the recycling bin will be two cents per kilo.
Ms Cameron said that currently in Mayo there was ‘room for improvement’ regarding recycling and waste management but a campaign will be launched next month to educate householders on ways of reducing their waste. Mr Bourke said his company have not yet set their new rates but stressed they will be competitive. An allowance will be set and anyone who goes over it will be penalised. He did admit that nappies are heavy and this will affect some young families.
“Food weight does add up but by putting it into your brown bin, it will save you considerable money. The people who may have higher bills are families with children under the age of three or four. I’d say it will hurt them a bit. But saying that even if you are over the weight you are only talking minor money.”
He dismissed the suggestion that pay-by-weight will lead to an increase in fly-tipping.
“From our experience pay by weight or flat rate won’t increase or decrease the amount of fly-tipping. Those people are doing it anyway. To be honest the vast majority of people are not fly-tipping, it is the minority who do it. It is up to the local authority to deal with the fly-tippers,” he said.