Householders set to clean up as county ‘bin wars’ break out

BIN wars are set to break out as a local authority and the private sector mount aggressive marketing campaigns to gain more customers.

Claims are being made by both sides in Cork that they offer best value for money in disposing of household waste, with Cork County Council now poised to launch a countywide door-to-door collection of recyclable items which will be free of charge.

Enda Kiernan, a senior county council official, said yesterday that he hoped to significantly increase the council’s customer base of 60,000.

He claimed the average householder using the local authority service is paying €307 a year. This is calculated from standing collection charge of €120, plus 47 cent per kilo of waste. The council has decided not to increase these charges in 2006.

In response County Clean, the largest private operator in Cork, is introducing a special offer. People who sign up to its service over the next six months will pay €185, which will include recycling and waste collections.

The council fell behind the private sector because it was late out of the traps with its recycling collections and as a result lost some customers. However, it will roll out the county-wide recycling collections next year and hopes to have all areas up and running by September. Officials are also studying the possibility of introducing new collection routes.

“We are going to be producing our own fliers and going out there aggressively marketing to retain our existing customers and gain new ones.

“If people do the right thing with recycling they should be able to drop their bills as low as €280 a year,” Mr Kiernan said.

Dave O’Regan, managing director of County Clean, said his company’s dual collections were efficient and cost-effective.

Mr O’Regan said that people on the council service, who didn’t yet have a recycling collection, often travelled to council-operated “bring sites” and found them full. He added that while increased costs of disposing of waste were a concern, he would nevertheless not be increasing customer prices in 2006.

“This has been achieved by more effective cost control throughout the whole company, plus a major investment in our truck fleet and better route planning,” Mr O’Regan said.