Waste charges to be "phased in"

Friday 23 June 2017

Controversial waste charges will be “phased in” after local businesses said that they would need more time to deal with the impact of the new measure.

Members of the hospitality industry and other non-household entities affected by the new charge including businesses and sports clubs had expressed concerns about how they would deal with the sudden introduction next year.

This culminated in comments on Tuesday from the Minister for Economic Development, Senator Lyndon Farnham – himself a hotelier – calling for the ‘user pays’ fee to be phased in gradually.

Having taken that feedback on board, Minister for Infrastructure Deputy Eddie Noel announced today that one-off funding had been made available to allow the charges to be phased in at 50% next year, before the full charge comes into play in 2019.

It is hoped that this will give businesses more time to prepare.

“I am grateful to my Ministerial colleagues for allowing me to make the proposed introduction of user pays liquid waste charges a little easier for non-householders by discounting 50% of the charge for 2018. We have listened to industry concerns and have been able to adapt our proposals, even though it means continuing a subsidy for another year,” Deputy Noel commented.

The States spend around £3.85 million processing non-household liquid waste annually – more than one fifth of the total States expenditure on liquid waste disposal.

The proposed charges aim to cover this cost, which is currently funded by the taxpayer, in order to deliver investment in “priority areas” and help balance States books by 2019.