PBP TD calls for government intervention as waste companies set to increase green bin charges Waste companies must appear before Dáil Communications committee
Press Release- Bríd Smith TD, People Before Profit. 14/03/2018
People Before Profit TD Bríd Smith has called on the Minister for Communications, Environment and Climate Action to intervene and stop waste companies from introducing green bin charges.
Panda, Ireland’s largest waste company, has said that they will introduce a charge for green waste collection- a lift charge and a weight charge per kg from April 19th Panda have said the charge will result in a 21 euro increase, but Smith said some households will face much higher increases of over 100 euro.
“This is the predictable outcome of the privatisation of waste services, bin charges were justified as a way of getting people to recycle and separate waste; now they are been charged for that as well,” she said
She has also called for waste companies to appear before the committee for Communications, Environment and Climate Action to explain their pricing and business models before the summer recess.
She said: “I am calling on Minister Naughton to pull these companies into line and ban the charging for the green bins. What the companies are saying is not true- people will pay far more than 21 euro a year.”
The TD also attacked waste companies who are based offshore and claimed this was a way of hiding their profits and avoiding paying tax.
Smith stated that the fact that recycled waste had been sent to China was a testimony to the lunacy of the state’s waste management. “We need recycling facilitates in Ireland, we need to ban single-use plastic and reduce the packaging of food and other items. A privatised for-profit industry will not deal with waste in a sustainable way,” she said.
ENDS
Contact- Bríd Smith TD- 087 909 0166
Nick Lee (Press Officer)- 087 615 6473