The charges applied by waste management companies are a matter between those companies and their customers, subject to compliance with all applicable environmental and other relevant legislation. However, it is important to note that the provision of a segregated collection service through a green bin is not “free” - even where a waste collector decides not to charge customers for collection of the green bin, there is nonetheless a cost associated with processing the contents of this bin, just as there is for processing brown bin or residual bin material.
As part of the introduction of a new regulatory framework for the collection of household waste in 2015, I intend to introduce a general requirement that pricing plans incentivise the segregation of waste by households and the application of the waste hierarchy.