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Pay-as-you-throw bin charges to be scrapped in Dordogne
From next year, households will pay through property tax with rises expected
Dordogne’s controversial pay-as-you-throw rubbish charges are being scrapped from January 1, 2027, and being replaced with a property-based tax.
More than 350 of the department’s approximately 500 communes are covered by waste authority SMD3, which is making the change after years of complaints about the existing system.
Serge Bertin, president of residents’ association Association Citoyenne de Lutte Déchets 24 Pour un Service Public (ACLD24PSP), told The Connexion he expects the new tax to leave most households paying more.
“Most people will pay more, but we won’t know how much more until SMD3 announces the rate, which will happen in the new year,” he said.
He advised residents to arrange monthly payments of their property tax to avoid having to pay the waste charge in one go.
The ACLD24PSP had called for a pause in the unpopular bin charges and a public debate, supporting a property-based tax with an incentive to reduce waste alongside a partial return to door-to-door collection.
How will the Dordogne rubbish charges change?
Since 2023, households have paid a fixed charge and a variable amount linked to household size and the number of times they open communal bins for non-recyclable rubbish.
Residents association Association des Mécontents de la Collecte des Déchets en Dordogne said the system was particularly unfair on disabled people and families that generate more waste than average (such as those with medical issues and young families).
Residents use an electronic card to unlock the bins, with a set number of openings included in their annual allowance. Additional openings incur extra charges.
Some residents choose not to pay the extra charge and leave rubbish beside the bins instead. Around 3,000 incidents of fly-tipping were reported to SMD3 in 2024, which led the body to invest €100,000 in surveillance cameras last year.
Others throw their bin bags into the general recycling bin, which can be opened without a card.
From January 2027, the current system (known as redevance incitative (RI)) will be replaced by the standard taxe d’enlèvement des ordures ménagères (TEOM), which is collected alongside property tax.
The TEOM, which is used in most areas of France, is calculated by applying a rate set by the local authority to a property’s cadastral rental value rather than household size or rubbish disposal habits. It is normally included in the taxe foncière bill issued to property owners, although landlords can generally recover the waste charge from tenants.
Whether individual households will pay more remains unclear. The rate for 2027 has not yet been announced, and SMD3 has not provided a comparison showing the likely impact on individual bills.
SMD3 president Pascal Protano warned in June that retaining the current system could require a 35% to 45% increase in charges. He said around 10% of the population had not registered to pay, leaving other households to cover the shortfall.
This estimate concerns the cost of keeping the existing system, not what households will pay under the new tax.
At an October press conference, the association ACLD24PSP challenged SMD3’s projected increase under the existing system, saying it had not explained how it arrived at the figure.
It said the annual charge for a couple using communal bins had already risen from €244.70 in 2023 to €276.12.
The association also warned that changing the tax would not resolve complaints about communal bins being difficult to access, particularly for elderly and disabled residents.
Could incentive charges return?
SMD3 is considering changing bin charges again in 2028 to a system that would combine the property-based tax with a variable element linked to household waste volume.
This system is known as a taxe d’enlèvement des ordures ménagères incitative (TEOMI).
A final decision is expected in June 2027.
SMD3 told The Connexion it expects to release a statement on the changes before the end of the year.
What about other areas?
Dordogne is not alone in reconsidering how households pay for waste collection.
In the Var, the Pays de Fayence intercommunal authority abandoned plans for an incentive-based charge, opting instead for a waste tax from 2027 that will still include a variable element linked to waste disposal.
In Gironde, the Smicval waste authority has also dropped plans for a territory-wide move towards incentive-based pricing and communal drop-off points, leaving member communes to choose their collection arrangements.
However, these changes do not necessarily signal a wider retreat from incentive-based charges. National environmental agency ADEME says 8.5 million people were covered by incentive-based waste taxation in 2024, up from 1.2 million in 2010.
