2023-10-04 17:42:11
Difficult to find the balance for metropolises and communities of municipalities which manage the collection of household waste and its treatment. They must face the soaring costs of infrastructure, energy, index treatment of territorial agents and the general tax on polluting activities (TGAP). And tensions can arise between elected officials and their constituents. Example in the community of communes of Roumois Seine where residents are protesting, via an online petition, against the application on January 1, 2024 of the tax incentive for lifting: bins equipped with a 140 liter and 240 liter chip will continue to be collected like today. But, instead of paying an annual Teom (household waste removal tax) of 14.11% of the rental value, the rates will increase to 9.20% plus 0.27 euro cents per liter collected.
“The destruction of waste is energy-intensive whether by burial or incineration”
Bertrand Pécot, Vice-President of the community of communes of Roumois Seine
Bertrand Pécot, the Vice-President in charge of Ecological Transition, aquatic management, sanitation, runoff, waste, responds to concerns: “Today everyone pays Teom. This is the principle of the solidarity tax. The injustice is that it is indexed to the rental value. You have a large home, your children have left, there are only two of you left in the household so you present less for collection, but you still pay the same. So, the community chose to keep a solidarity portion and an incentive portion calculated based on the number of collections per year. The principle is to first check if your bin meets your needs. You can change it. Then, you must present full and well sorted bins. Here, we are not inventing an additional tax, we are modifying an existing tax. With a presentation once a month, we can pay the same amount as today or even less,” explains the elected official.
An assumed choice to face the costs of processing final non-recyclable waste “which are soaring, because this destruction is energy-intensive whether by burial or incineration,” adds Bertrand Pécot. The control of energies becomes a backbone. Added to this is the TGAP which will increase from 15 euros per tonne to 65 euros per tonne by 2026. So, we are in a situation where this cannot last. Those administered have to go a long way. Concretely, we must further increase our sorting performance even though we have been doing it for 20 years. »
More than 1100 signatories
Despite these explanations, residents have posted a petition online entitled “No to the reform of the tax on household waste in Roumois”. More than 1100 signatures were collected. “We are already taxed enough in this difficult period, and we consider that this is not the right time for such an initiative,” indicates the petition which puts forward this other argument: “We fear that this excessive increase in the tax household waste does not lead to a large number of incivilities, such as illegal dumping. »
“I understand that we are in an anxious period and that people are worried about the change in the rules,” reacts Vice-President Bertrand Pécot. This is not a problem, because I make myself available to talk about it. The most annoying thing is that people think we want to take more taxes. It’s the contrary ! Afterwards, when we carry out inspection rounds, we realize that there are forgetful people, people who are not informed enough and others who do not want to sort. So, I tell the signatories that I am at their disposal. I am convinced that communication and dialogue are needed. »
The elected official recognizes that there are adjustments to be made but remains optimistic: “If we completely switched to weighing, it would be much more painful. As for the risk of illegal dumping, it is possible. There, the mayor must operate the logbook. The fines may fall for a fringe of diehards, but I am convinced that this will not last. There is no reason for this to go wrong. »
#Eure #outcry #trash #tax