Sinn Féin councillor Daithí Doolan said that the campaign to bring waste management back under the control of local authorities has received a significant boost following the recently published recommendations from the Dublin City Task Force.
The task force for Dublin, established last May, put forward 10 recommendations aimed at making the city safer, more welcoming, and less run down.
It also hopes to increase the number of people living in the city centre and create a vibrant “always-on” city, according to the report published last week.
One of the key “big moves” from the report falls under the category of implementing a “dedicated waste management plan” for the city centre.
This plan includes ending the use of plastic bags for waste immediately, which is currently being trialled on the south side of the city centre only.
Other recommendations include moving to a single waste management provider in the city centre through a tender process, along with launching a city-centre anti-litter campaign.
Cllr Doolan, Sinn Féin group leader on Dublin City Council, said: “The Dublin City Task Force recommended that a single waste management company should provide the bin collection service in Dublin city centre.
“With a further recommendation that, long term, the waste service should be brought back under the control of Dublin City Council.
“This is very positive and will be welcomed by householders across Dublin. This comes only a week after the Oireachtas Committee on Environment and Climate Change made a similar recommendation.
“The wholesale privatisation of our bin service in 2012 has been a disaster for Dublin. It has led to a wild west situation, with up to a dozen bin companies charging ever-increasing prices for a service that is not fit for purpose.”
“I met with stakeholders, including trade unions, last Friday to agree on how we can ensure these recommendations are made a reality as soon as possible,” he added.
In 2012, bin collection services were privatised after a legal challenge from the companies Panda and Greenstar against Dublin City Council (DCC).
When private firms started offering reduced rates for bin collection, the council revised its policy to permit only these companies or their appointed contractors to provide the service.
This approach was deemed anti-competitive and violated the council’s regulations. As a consequence, private operators were given control over the bin collection services.
Until the mid-1990s, all collections were done by local authorities and paid for by central government. Then a new waste management law allowed private operators to enter the market.
DCC introduced household bin charges in the early 2000s, a move that sparked a number of street protests.
In 2003, Socialist Party leader Joe Higgins and future MEP Clare Daly were jailed for a month after they defied a High Court injunction stopping them from obstructing refuse trucks.
Dublin City Council has been contacted for comment.
