Tuesday 08 July 2014
Public Services is consulting islanders over changes to the way households currently pay for their waste to be dealt with, before finalising proposals to go to the States later this year.
A new charging system will be introduced in 2016, and will include a "user pays" element. The more waste islanders produce, the more they will pay for it to be dealt with.
The States has already agreed the broad arrangements for the new system. There will be fixed charges for every household, to cover elements such as regular collections of refuse and recycling, and an additional fee for each bag of waste they produce. That is likely to be between £2.00 and £3.50 a bag.
A smaller charge will apply to recycling bags.
It is estimated most households will see their waste bills rise by between £2 and £3 a week, which will cover all waste management services and facilities. However many islanders should see smaller increases, and although some may see larger than average rises they will have greater control over how much they pay than at present.
Under the current refuse rate system, parishes charge for collecting and disposing of waste. Each household's annual bill is calculated according to the size of their property, and some are currently paying less than £1 a week, irrespective of how much they produce. The average is just over £2 a week.
The bag charge will, for the first time, introduce a direct link between how much waste each household produces and how much they pay for it to be dealt with. It is intended to encourage islanders to reduce their waste and recycle as much as they can.
Public Services is also looking at options that could reduce the impact of the changes on households that currently pay very little in waste charges. These include potentially reducing the amount of the total costs recovered through fixed charges, and potentially maintaining a link to TRP for a small proportion.
The Department has issued a public consultation document, to gather feedback from islanders before finalising its proposals. This can be downloaded from www.gov.gg/futurewastecharges, or a copy can be obtained by calling 01481 234684.
Public Services Minister Deputy Paul Luxon said the Department was keen to hear as many views as possible.
"The way we all pay for waste is going to change. In future there will be a link between how much we produce, and what we pay to deal with it, so we will all have greater control over how much it costs us," he said.
"However there will be an increase for many islanders, because we are introducing better services and facilities. Inevitably this will cost more, but what most of us pay will still be low compared to other household costs.
"The States have agreed the broad principles of the new charging system, and we have been working on the finer detail. This is now an opportunity for islanders to let us know their views."
The new charging structure will recover the cost of all household waste services and facilities. These include separate collections of refuse, recycling and food waste; new sorting and processing facilities; export costs; the Longue Hougue recycling centre, and other waste-related services.
Deputy Luxon said islanders would see improvements in many areas.
"We have already seen a major improvement with the recent introduction of island-wide kerbside collections, which has made recycling easier and more convenient. There will be more changes to come," he said.
ENDS
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