€800m waste bill 'puts firms at risk'

THE cost of disposing waste for Irish firms has risen to over €800 million in the past decade and is threatening to put many companies out of business, the employers group IBEC warned yesterday.

An Irish company pays five times more for waste disposal than a business in Britain and over twice the rate of a business operating in Sweden.

The cost of waste disposal for Irish businesses has increased from €32m in 1995 to over €800m in 2004, according to IBEC.