Irish Government to increase landfill charges again

The Irish Government has announced that they are planning further increases to the levies imposed on landfill-dumped rubbish. This announcement comes amidst already rising charges that are set to go up by almost one third in the next few months.

Ireland’s environment minister, John Gormley, announced the decision as part of his plans to reduce the amount of biodegradable waste that is dumped in landfill rather than being recycled.

Waste companies have warned that the increasing charges will be passed on to local authorities and businesses if they are unable to find alternative uses for the biodegradable materials that they collect. Furthermore, small waste companies are unlikely to have the facilities to effectively separate out the waste that they collect.

Encouraging recycling is one of the Irish Government’s top priorities. Tony Kileen, Minister of State and the Department of Environment said earlier this month: “We should recycle and recover all our waste - but we must generate less waste to recycle.

“Businesses must reduce their costs if they wish to remain competitive and the most effective way of reducing costs including recycling costs is to prevent waste coming in the door in the first instance.”