Re-turn has said that it is willing to engage with Dublin City Council on the operation of the Deposit Return Scheme in the city centre.
The statement comes after the local authority's Chief Executive, Richard Shakespeare, said that "scavengers" are emptying bins in search of bottles or cans.
He added, in an interview with the Irish Independent, that the additional cleaning required is costing the council between €500,000 and €1 million a year.
On RTÉ's Drivetime, Mr Shakespeare said: "I was just sort of characterising the law of unintended consequences ... and it shouldn't be a case where our most vulnerable citizens need to go chasing bottles and cans out of bins."
Council workers and the DublinTown organisation have reported that "people have marked out their territory" in relation to bins, he said, as the recycling of the containers has "been made a far more human commodity".
Mr Shakespeare said that he witnessed - "on a well-worn path from Wood Quay to the Mansion House and South Great George's Street" - people "pulling the bin out, emptying it ... the full bin... and cherry-picking the bits that they want".
It is happening on a daily basis and the council is retrofitting bins with new locks to stop them from being opened, he added.
Green Party Councillor Janet Horner described the comments as "really disappointing".
She accepted that "the issue of people scavenging bins is a real thing", but said it was unfair to blame "vulnerable people".
"There is a whole big picture of what we need to do to tackle the state of Dublin streets," she told the same programme.
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In a statement, Re-turn said that it was "open to engagement" on the issue and "to further improve operations in Dublin city centre".
"While Re-turn was not previously informed of the costs outlined, it would welcome the opportunity to better understand and discuss them.
"Our goal is to support our partners in delivering a successful Deposit Return Scheme in Ireland," the statement added.
Re-turn said that, since the scheme's introduction, recycling rates for drinks containers have increased from 49% to an estimated rate of over 90%, with more than 76% of the figure captured directly through the scheme.
Independent data also showed a 60% reduction in bottle and can litter nationwide, according to the company, with coastlines recording the lowest levels in 25 years.
Re-turn said that it "has partnered with local authorities, including Dublin City Council, to install bin surrounds nationwide, making on-the-go recycling more visible and accessible while helping to reduce rummaging and protect valuable recyclable materials".
The scheme applies to containers of between 150ml and 3L with the return logo on them.
