100pc hike in recycling fee modest council

Westmeath County Council has defended doubling the fees at its recycling centres.

The council increased the gate fees for jeeps and for vehicles with trailers from €5 to €10. It also increased the fee for cars from €2 to €3. While owned by the council, the recycling centres in Mullingar and Athlone are operated by Oxigen Ltd.

In a statement issued to the Westmeath Examiner, the local authority stated that it increased its rates after Oxigen “made the case that centres are uneconomical and that an upward revision of the gate fees was required”.

“Documentation submitted by the contractor to Westmeath County Council confirm the loss making activities at the two centres, with green waste a significant loss maker.

“To avert the contractor possibly withdrawing from the contract and leaving an immediate problem of getting a replacement contractor in a changing market Westmeath County Council decided to negotiate a reasonable increase in the gate fee to maintain the service until the end of the current contract.

“A comparison of gate fees in neighbouring counties shows that the gate fees in Westmeath are lower than most. A significant difference between Westmeath and some of its neighbours is that there is a separate additional charge for green waste and some centres charge by weight.”

The 100 percent increase in the fee for vehicles with trailers is “excessive” and will “encourage people to illegally dump”, according to one regular user of the centre.

“Doubling the price in one go is far too much. The council say that they are trying to encourage people to recycle and not illegally dump their waste and they raise the prices like this.”

Describing the recent fee increases as “modest”, the council says that it “does not anticipate any significant change in behaviour vis a vis unauthorised waste disposal as a result of the fee increases”.

“Users of the Centres have proven themselves to be responsible citizens and the modest fee increases should not change this.”