Landfill charges for Sligo residents have soared from £30 to £72 per tonne since an agreement expired with Donegal County Council in January.
Since then, the county's waste has been taken to a landfill at Ballina, and Mayo County Council has imposed the much higher charge. Under the Connacht waste management plan the transfer of waste to Ballina was meant to be a temporary arrangement until an incinerator in Galway and two new landfill sites were completed in the province.
Refuse is collected in Sligo town by corporation staff and in the county by a number of private operators, and the increased gate fees will undoubtedly be passed on to customers.
Collection charges in the county which have been about £150 will rise to above £200 next year, and it is feared this could contribute to a growing problem of illegal dumping.
Executive engineer with Sligo County Council Mr Gary Salter said there was no excuse for the kind of dumping seen at Culleens and at other sites around the county.
Private operators collect refuse from all areas of the county and a company in Sligo town takes large items such as washing machines and sofas.
"The responsible citizen" would not have a problem paying £4 a week for the safe disposal of their rubbish, Mr Salter said. "The price is going up and some people may not be prepared to pay - it is a worry."
Sligo County Council has introduced measures aimed at encouraging recycling and minimisation. But as in other counties there is an absence of dramatic initiatives to reach the target of 48 per cent recycling set in the Connacht waste plan.
Only about 5 to 6 per cent of waste is recycled nationally. Ironically, because Sligo County Council has no landfill of its own, it cannot generate income from gate fees that could help pay for recycling initiatives.
The council has started a pilot scheme to introduce composting bins, and it was greatly oversubscribed, indicating a willingness among the public to change their habits. Some 150 bins were given out at half the retail price and about 150 more households are on a waiting list.
Sligo County Council recently appointed an environmental services co-ordinator and her main role will be to educate the public on environmental and waste management issues.
The number of recycling banks is to be increased but it will be a long time before the target of one for every 500 people is reached. There are 14 in the county area, which has a population of about 35,000.
The county council is aiming to introduce four or five more recycling banks per year.
Meanwhile efforts to enforce the law continue. A test case is shortly due before the Sligo courts against a person accused of burning their rubbish, which is illegal.
Three weeks ago, the Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, changed the law to remove powers from county councillors after a number of councils, including Galway, refused to accept incineration. He said too much time had been lost and that "we must act now".
But from developments on the ground this sense of urgency does not appear to apply to recycling or waste minimisation.