The price of bringing waste to a landfill is set to increase by 33% under new measures to be introduced by Minister for the Environmen John Gormley.
Currently it costs €15 per tonne to bring refuse into a dump, but that is to increase to €20.
The move follows an Environmental Protection Agency report showing that Ireland is generating more waste than ever and the amount going to landfills is also going up.
Minister Gormley has further signalled his intention to draft legislation in order to allow him increase the levy still further, in a bid to reverse the trend.
It is understood the Green Party leader also intends to draft powers which will allow him slap a levy on waste going to incinerators, once they come into operation.
This levy will be viewed, in some quarters, as a bid to financially undermine the introduction of incinerators in the State, but Minister Gormley contends it is the European norm.
