Evaluation of pay-by-use (PBU) domestic waste charging systems in Ireland

Irish waste collectors were advised by the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government to adopt pay-by-use (PBU) domestic waste charges from 1st January 2005. The measure was taken to combat the rising volumes of waste produced nationally and to apply the polluter pays principle to waste charges, in line with EU waste principles and sustainability objectives. The PBU charges have been adopted by waste collectors nationwide; however these charges have been implemented in different forms across the country with several different PBU systems (weight, tag, and differential bin size systems) used by waste collectors. In order to optimise PBU to ensure achievement of nationally desired waste management outcomes research into the impacts each PBU system was undertaken. The study evaluated the components of each PBU system in terms of their impacts upon waste disposal, recycling, and, in particular, source reduction in order to determine the most environmentally effective system. The research into the impacts of PBU systems on the environment found that in Ireland weight-based PBU charges are marginally more environmentally effective than tag-based charges and differential bin size charges in terms of residual, recycling, and total waste levels.