Introduction Wastes Charges.indd

Introduction This paper reviews the potential for problems regarding public acceptability of environmental taxes. It examines the issue through a case study of the municipal waste charge protests in Ireland in 2003 and 2004. The example of these public protests against new waste charges demonstrate the necessity for good advertisement and PR when in~roducing a new tax. Rather than explain the polluter pays principle and simultaneously providing a good selection of options for recycling and composting, some municipalities moved straight into the new tax (for a service that had originally been free of charge and covered by general taxes). Outbreaks of publ ic revolt occurred, with people blockading the streets and refusing to let the collection trucks down their road. Thus, even the people who had paid up were not gening their waste collected. The paper, which is part of ongoing work this area, seeks to identify the reasons why there was so much resistance to this eharge and examine the lessons for the introduction of other environmental taxes and charges in the future. The literature on the various types of municipal waste chargc is discussed with a view to seeing if pay-by-weight tends to be more politically acceptable as there is a real incentive and control over the amount of waste collected fo r landfill or incinerator.