One of Dublin's four local authorities, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, has announced it is to end the collection of household waste from July and put the job out to tender to the private sector.
The Council says that, despite a major rationalisation last year, its waste service continues to incur what it calls ‘unsustainable losses’ and this will undermine its capacity to deliver other important services.
Frank Austin, the Council's Director of Water and Waste Services, said rather than compulsory redundancies the 25 staff members currently employed in providing the 'grey' bin service will be redeployed.
In a statement, the Council said it currently has about 18,500 customers, down from 64,000 in 2006, and the net cost of maintaining the service was estimated at €3.5m in 2010.
The Council also cited a recent High Court case that dictated private waste collectors, like Panda and GreenStar, were entitled to unrestricted access to the waste market in Dublin.
Dún Laoghaire Rathdown Council County Manager Owen Keegan thanked residents for their loyal support and said he recognised that many would be disappointed by the decision to cease providing a service.
However he added: 'I hope you will also accept my assurance that we have no real choice in the matter, if other important Council services are to be maintained'.
Mr Keegan said he would be writing to residents shortly to inform them of the change-over plans and reassured people that they would not need to make any alternative arrangements for disposing their waste.
Private waste collectors have described the decision to pull out of the waste market as 'another nail in the coffin of the proposed Poolbeg incinerator'.
Brendan Keane of the Irish Waste Management Association, which represents most of the private industry, said this raises serious questions about how Dublin's local authorities are going to secure enough waste to fulfill their obligation to provide 320,000 tonnes to Poolbeg each year.
Mr Keane said the announcement also underlined the High Court finding in their successful recent case, which found that consumers are getting a better deal from the private sector because it is simply more cost-effective.
Dublin City Council has said the decision by Dún Laoghaire Rathdown Council to pull out of the waste market 'has no implications for incinerator at Poolbeg'.
A spokeswoman said this was because - irrespective of whether waste was collected by a local authority or private collector - the material had to be processed, and disposed of, in accordance with the highest available point on the EU waste hierarchy.
