An increase in bin charges is likely as a result of the Deposit Return Scheme hurting the profits of bin companies, according to a report in The Irish Independent. Bringing bins back into public control is the only way to ensure a service that works for working people, according to David Gardiner, Workers’ Party representative for Palmerstown-Fonthill.

Gardiner said: “A rumoured further increase in bin charges shows the need to take waste collection back into public control. The current set-up, leaving it to the private profiteers, has seen profits soar for bin companies at the expense of working people. We’ve already seen sky-high bin charges, a significant increase in dumping and the removal of litter bins. Further increases will only worsen these problems and put a greater strain on working families, many of whom are already struggling to make ends meet.”

“Something as important as how we handle our waste should not be run for profit. Bringing waste collection back into public control would allow us to have a service that does not treat working families, our communities and the environment as collateral for private profits. When the private market fails, the rest of us should not be expected to pick up the slack.”

“This news shows an incompatibility between the current waste set-up and the Deposit Return Scheme, which, whatever one’s view on it may be, is at least supposed to incentivise recycling according to the government. People who make use of the scheme, who are doing what the government says is the right thing, could effectively be punished for doing so through an increase in bin charges.”