Council accused of sending plastic refuse bins to landfill

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Written by Keith Lynch

Wednesday, 10 January 2007

A local councillor has hit out at the Environment Department of the City Council, claiming that hundreds of bins, returned by customers opting out of council's refuse service, are going to landfill rather than being recycled.

According to City Councillor Padraig Connelly, the council is engaging in a "grotesque" practice of sending these bins to the landfill rather then opting for recycling.

The Galway Independent has also received a number of calls from the general public this week, claiming that they had seen council staff simply dump the returned plastic bins into the refuse truck destined for the landfill.

Cllr Conneely said, "What message does this send out to the thousands of householders in the city who have embraced recycling over the last two years?

"I will be calling on the council to immediately desist from this practise of sending the plastic refuse bins to landfill."

However, Galway City Council Director of Services in the Environment Department Tom Connell has refuted the claims.

He said, "We have a policy where we either sell off our bins, re-use them or recycle them.

"There would be certain bins that would be contaminated, however our objection is to re-use, recycle or sell off used bins."

Meanwhile, the Mayor of the City claimed this week that government policy could end up destroying the council's household waste management service.

He claims the policy means that the council can't compete with City Bin Company on an equal footing.

Mayor Niall O Brolcháin said, "Last year, no sooner was the ink dry on the Budget for 2006, than a private waste company, The City Bin Company announced that it was offering a domestic waste collection service.

"This year no sooner were details of the new pay-by-weight service of Galway City Council ratified at budget time than the City Bin Company came back with a major publicity campaign, highlighting a cheaper service than the City Council.

"The problem, as I see it, is that, if you are going to promote competition, you have to have a level playing field.

"Private waste collectors are significantly different from local authorities in terms of what they can and can't do."

The Mayor pointed out that the local authority must set their waste collection charges once a year, while the private companies are free to alter their prices at any time.

He added, "Galway City Council provides a waiver system for 3,000 households. Private operators provide no waivers and the Council has a responsibility to collect waste from all households. Private collectors can pick and choose at their leisure."

The Mayor said that to ensure an equal playing field, the government must "provide a national waste collection waiver service, through the Department of Social Welfare; bring in legislation to allow local authorities to respond to market conditions without being penalised; and assist local authorities in developing emergency plans in the event that a private waste collection company should stop trading for any reason."

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