PANDA TO START CHARGING FOR GREEN BIN
REFUSE firm Panda has announced it will begin charging for recycling bin collection services – and others firms may follow suit.
The waste industry was thrown into turmoil earlier this year, when China, the world’s leading importer of recyclable waste, introduced a ban on 24 categories of solid waste, including forms of plastic, textiles and paper.
Irish recycling operators were heavily reliant on exporting waste to China, with 95% of plastic produced in Ireland sent to the country last year.
Since the implementation of the ban, competition among nations importing recyclable waste has increased significantly, leading to a major hike in the price of recycling.
In a statement released yesterday, Panda said that while it is ‘committed to recycling in Ireland in order to maintain Changes: A Panda truck Ireland’s excellent recycling rate, it is critical that the cost of recycling is met’. ‘Unfortunately, to meet increasing costs, we have to introduce charges for the recycling bin collection service,’ the statement said.
‘However, these charges will be relatively small and will be used to help maintain a sustainable recycling culture in Ireland.’
The company will charge 80c per lift of a recycling bin and 4.5c per kg to collect, process and transport recyclables, which Panda described as ‘a relatively small price to pay to be able to continue to recycle in a sustainable manner for future generations’.
They added that now that China had closed as an outlet for recyclables, the cost of recycling worldwide has ‘escalated dramatically as more companies worldwide jostle for access to reduced outlets in the rest of the world’.
The charge will come into effect on April 19.
Waste and recycling company Greyhound hasn’t ruled out introducing a similar charge, saying last night that it is ‘monitoring the situation and has yet to make a decision’.
‘It has been widely reported that the change in Chinese policy has had a significant impact on the global recycling market and Ireland is no different to anywhere else in the world where local markets have experienced a significant increase in costs and in some cases a total loss of some outlets,’ a spokesman told the Irish Daily Mail.
‘Greyhound has absorbed this cost to date and is exhausting all options before making a definitive decision.’
Speaking to the Mail, an industry expert said that costs may be passed on to customers, but the situation remains uncertain. The expert added that those involved in the waste industry in Ireland are trying to keep people recycling ‘at any cost’, as there is a hope that the market will bounce back to a stable level.
‘We don’t want to stop recycling because of this because it will be very hard to start again if we stopped,’ they said.
China made the decision to bar recyclables due to the significant impact it was having on the nation’s population.
China’s environment ministry told the World Trade Organisation that they made the decision due to the significant pollution high volumes of recyclables caused the environment, remarking: ‘Large amounts of dirty... or even hazardous wastes are mixed in the solid waste that can be used as raw materials.’
Come into effect on April 19