Thousands of households will be hit with extra bin charges from tomorrow.
Panda Recycling, one of the largest waste collection companies in the State, will start charging €3.80 for each compost bin lift.
The special charge for putting food and garden waste into compost bins has been described as a blow to efforts to encourage households to recycle.
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It comes less than a year after the company increased its general waste bin-lift charges by more than 12% and also hiked its service charges.
The charge for each lift of a general waste bin has gone up by €1.13 to €10.25 since September 2022 – a rise of 12.4%.
These rises mean a household having its bin collected every fortnight is now paying €50 more per year for waste-collection services.
Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore said it is counterproductive to bring these charges in.
She told Newstalk: “We want people to do the right thing when it comes to our waste.
“We want people to recycle and we want people to compost.
“In order for them to do that we need to encourage them to do it and not penalise them when they do it so I think it is a counterproductive move by Panda.”
Panda Recycling, whose parent group recently sold for €1billion, has an estimated 360,000 customers.
Last month financial adviser Frank Conway said the new charges would hit hard-pressed families in the pocket.
He added: “This will be a shock to people as it goes against the councils’ and the department’s circular economy objective of encouraging people to put less into the general waste bins.”
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