The last local authority in the country to introduce refuse collection charges will begin billing households in the next fortnight. South Dublin County Council is to charge €125-€190 per household per year for collection of non-recyclable waste.
The council has also provided around a quarter of its 75,000 households with green bins for paper, cardboard and cans and expects every home will have one by early next year.
Households will also begin receiving brown bins for compostable waste food and garden cuttings beginning early next year. No additional charges will be imposed for the collection of either of these bins. The segregated waste scheme is part of a plan to increase recycling of household waste from its current level of 10 per cent to 60 per cent.
Mr Garry Keogh of the council's environment department said he believed the target could be reached within a few years. "In addition to the household bins, we're going to be putting in place 40 recycling banks for cans and particularly glass.
"We'll have them near housing estates and other places convenient to people to drive in or walk to. We already have two, one of which is only there since the end of last year, but they're already receiving a lot of material."
The new refuse fee falls between the charges introduced by neighbouring Dublin authorities. Dublin City Council is charging €120 and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown has a €200 charge.
Fingal County Council has a mix of charges per bin, depending on size. The council was recently placed under a temporary injunction preventing it from leaving uncollected bins that had not been paid for.
South Dublin, in common with the other authorities, has a waiver scheme which applies to social-welfare recipients and other low-income households.