The Government has announced the provision of €6 million in funding to assist local authorities in meeting the costs associated with the operation of their bring banks and civic amenity facilities for the period July to December 2009. A further €6 million will be made available to cover the period January to June 2010. The provision represents an increase of €400,000 on the funding provided for the period January to June 2009.
The allocations are based, as in previous years, on a combination of weighted tonnage and net operating costs, with particular emphasis being given to the higher costs of dealing with certain waste streams such as hazardous waste and plastics. In addition, Eur1 million of the funding has been set aside to support those civic amenity sites which remain open to the public at weekends.
The funding is provided from the Environment Fund, through which the proceeds of the plastic bag and landfill levies are utilised to provide assistance and support in respect of a range of waste management, litter and other environmental initiatives.