Panda Waste customers face fines for not disposing of food waste properly

Panda Waste customers could be fined up to €25 for throwing away food in their black wheelie bins.

Changes to contracts also include allowing workers to enter people's property to inspect their rubbish.

Panda Waste, one of the biggest rubbish collectors, is implementing a fine system for polluting any of its bins from next week.

Earlier this year, it installed cameras on its trucks to catch households doing things like throwing away nappies in green bins and even dead pets.

Now it is stepping up its campaign by fining customers up to €25 for putting the wrong items into any of its black, green and brown bins.

That includes food in black bins or cooking oil in brown bins.

New contracts also include asserting the right to enter people's property to inspect their rubbish, fines for missing direct debits and adding extra charges for any waste deemed hazardous.