Following the announcement by waste company, Panda Recycling, that it is to increase its charge for compost bin collection in Dublin, SIPTU Divisional Organiser, Karan O Loughlin, has said that the entire domestic waste collection sector is in need of radical overhaul. Karan O Loughlin said: “Almost 1 in 4 households in the state currently have no domestic waste collection service. A recent report by the Institute of Public Administration (IPA), commissioned by Dublin City Council, showed that this country is unique across the EU in the manner in which the domestic waste sector is organised. “This comparative IPA study also found that Dublin was the only city reviewed which has a chronic illegal dumping problem. There is an intrinsic link between the lack of universal waste services provision and illegal dumping. “The Government has adopted an exclusively market approach to domestic waste collection, with side-by-side competition within a single local authority area. In all other European cities, there is a tender for a single provider, within each local authority area, who must meet strict criteria in relation to the quality of customer service, labour contracts and environmental controls. “The current structure of the domestic waste sector is bad for the citizen, bad for the workers in the sector and bad for the environment. SIPTU, Fórsa and Connect unions will be meeting with Oireachtas members in early May to discuss the findings of the IPA report and to campaign for legislative reform within the sector.
SIPTU says domestic waste sector needs radical reform
