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Dublin councils' waste move is self-serving and anti-competitive says Greenstar
In attempting to stop private companies from offering waste and recycling services to consumers, the Dublin local authorities' are engaging in anti-competitive and self-serving behaviour, said Greenstar, Ireland's leading waste management company, today (18 September 2007).
Commenting, Steve Cowman, Greenstar Chief Executive, said: "The latest attempt by the Dublin authorities to remove competition from the Dublin waste sector further highlights the problem of local authorities being both regulators and players in the waste market, which was recognised by the Department of the Environment Green Paper last year. As competition from the private sector leads to lower prices and enhanced services for consumers, the authorities are trying to stop the public from voting with their feet and choosing the waste services that suit them best.
It would also appear to us that there is no coincidence that this move by the local authorities comes less than two weeks after it transpired that Dublin City Council signed an agreement guarantying the operators of the proposed Poolbeg incineration facility a waste flow of over 300,000 tonnes per year for apparently twenty years or more.
We believe the Council's attempts to artificially control waste flows is anti-competitive, outside their remit and potentially illegal as well as a massive disincentive to the private sector in investing in the waste infrastructure and services Ireland critically needs."
Furthermore, the Councils' assertions that illegal dumping and backyard burning are on the increase in the areas where private operators offer services are ludicrous. Everyone has to pay for their waste, whether it is to the Council or to a private operator, and in a significant numbers of cases the private operator is significantly cheaper than the Council.
It is also the Council's statutory duty to enforce waste laws and ensure that illegal activities don't occur.
For further information contact:
Carol-Anne Hernon, Marketing Executive.
Tel: +353-1-2947962
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