By Owen Reid
The Supreme Court has quashed Cork Corporation's wheelie-bin sticker system for enforcing household refuse charges, ruling that non-payment did not remove the council's statutory duty to collect household waste.
Con O'Connell, an alderman in Cork Corporation who had campaigned against refuse charges, challenged the system after it was introduced in his area. Under the arrangement, wheelie bins had to display a sticker or tag indicating payment. Refuse would not be collected from households that had not paid, subject to a waiver scheme for qualifying residents.
O'Connell himself had been granted a waiver. However, Mr Justice Geoghegan held that he still had standing to bring the case. He lived in the affected area and could potentially be exposed to nuisance or health problems caused by neighbours' uncollected refuse. His role as an alderman also gave him a public interest in whether the corporation was acting lawfully.
The central issue was section 33 of the Waste Management Act 1996. It imposed a general duty on local authorities to collect, or arrange collection of, household waste. An exception applied where bye-laws concerning the "presentation" of waste for collection were not followed.
Cork Corporation argued that its 2000 wheelie-bin bye-laws brought the sticker requirement within that exception.
The Supreme Court rejected that interpretation. Geoghegan J said "presentation" concerned matters such as the type of bin, separating different waste, the quantity placed in containers and where or when waste was left for collection. It was not intended to allow a payment-enforcement measure to be presented as a waste-presentation rule.
The court stressed that householders were still obliged to pay the refuse charge. If they failed to do so, the corporation could use ordinary debt recovery procedures.
The appeal was allowed. The High Court order was replaced with an order of certiorari quashing Cork Corporation's decision to implement the sticker system.