Everyone will know that their local Council empties the bins and deals with the waste we produce. In the last few years Omagh District Council, like others across Northern Ireland have introduced Blue and Brown recycling bins to go alongside the Grey bin for general waste. People may be confused as to the purpose of these bins, and about the whole issue of recycling in general. In particular, does it actually help the environment, and equally as important for many people who see their rates bills increasing, what is it costing to have all these extra bins and extra collections?

Every tonne of waste which is sent to landfill is subject to landfill tax. Details of this tax can be found here, published by the Institute of Directors.

 

Adding to this will be fines, imposed by the European Union, if 40% or more of household waste is not recycled or composted by 2010, which again, if the Council is forced to pay, will be passed back to the ratepayers of the District.

Thousands of tonnes of waste cost tens of thousands of Pounds to deal with. To put it into context it might be helpful to know that around one third of the running costs of Omagh District Council are tied up in dealing with and disposing of waste. You can see a breakdown of the expenditure by Council department in the chart below. All of the expenditure on waste management are contained within the Environmental Services Department.

 

Reducing the amount of waste going into landfill is one area which can have a significant financial impact and it is one where we all play our part. Using the recycling bins provided by the Council isn't just some token effort to be 'green' but could actually help reduce your rates bill.

Omagh has been making progress to increase the amount of waste which we recycle instead of sending to landfill. The progress made is outlined in this graph.