Waste Management

14. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment if his Department has received any reports from the National Waste Collection Permit Office since March 2025; the issues addressed in any such reports; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [65951/26]

Has the Minister of State's Department received any reports from the National Waste Collection Permit Office? I do not know if his prepared remarks touch on the issue of the number of waste collectors in each local authority area but there is a fear around the impact consolidation is having on consumer prices.

The National Waste Collection Permit Office, which the Deputy will know is hosted by Offaly County Council, is the designated nominated authority for the processing and review of all waste collection permits issued within the State. The Department is, of course, in regular contact with the NWCPO. This contact includes meetings, fora and steering committees to discuss topics including but not limited to the operation of the waste collection market in Ireland, the collection of the waste recovery levy, and the implementation of relevant actions in the Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy. The Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy contains a commitment to introduce further measures to incentivise the prevention and segregation of waste. Arising from this commitment, the National Waste Collection Permit Office commissioned an independent study on incentivised waste charging and its potential implementation through the waste collection permitting system. This study, which has been shared with our Department, examines what changes could be made to the permitting system for waste collectors to fully incentivise waste prevention and improve source segregation practices by their customers to minimise their waste collection bills. Recommendations will be considered in conjunction with outcomes from the recently completed feasibility study into transitioning our national waste collection system from the current competitive licensing system to a franchise model. Both will inform the development of the next iteration of the WAPCE with a view to improving the rates of recycling among households and businesses to meet targets to established by the EU waste framework directive.

The reason I ask this question is that I believe there is a need for a hands-on approach to one particular issue. I do not know if it is the same across the board but in many rural counties we have seen a pattern of behaviour where large multinational waste collection companies decide to come into a county. In the first instance, they try to purchase all the local waste collection services. Where that does not happen, what appear to me to be very aggressive marketing strategies are employed. This can sometimes involve multiple representatives calling to doors and leaflets such as those I have here with me offering knock-down discount prices. The fear is that this is an attempt to monopolise the system outside of the regulations. Is the Minister of State aware of this practice and is he planning to take any action in response?

I am familiar with the practices the Deputy is talking about. There has been debate about them for some time. There is widespread concern that, in some places, there is a multiplicity of waste collection trucks moving around the same area one after another. That obviously has an impact on the environment, traffic congestion and so on. All of these matters are under review under a broader outlook in terms of the circular economy. From a Government perspective, the strategic approach is to try to reduce and minimise the amount of waste that is out there and to try to get greater reuse of commodities that are generated from scarce resources. It is about reducing the impact on our environment - much of that is about behavioural change and ensuring the appropriate systems are there to encourage our citizens to not disregard or dispense with products that have the capacity to be upcycled. That is very much feeding into our strategy. I know what the Deputy is talking about, which is the operationalisation of that on the ground. However, over time, the ambition of the Government is to reduce the amount of waste that will ultimately be collected.

We all have a shared objective in that regard; we all want to reduce the amount of waste. The difficulty is that in the scenario I spoke about, where these multinational companies essentially secure de facto monopolies in local authority areas where they are the only real option, the knockdown prices go very quickly. You are then back to what are eye watering, staggering costs for waste collection that would not be in place if there were local competitors. Will the Minister of State ask his Department to carry out an analysis, in conjunction with the National Waste Collection Permit Office, in respect of how many operators have licences and are operating within each local authority area and what the average costs are? I think the analysis will find a correlation between a reduction in providers and an increase in cost. Ultimately, this is a twin-track approach. I agree entirely with the Minister of State that we need to reduce waste but we also need to ensure that our families are not being fleeced by these large corporations which are knocking out all of their competitors outside of an agreed policy framework.

What the Deputy is clearly referring to is the need for a comprehensive policy framework in place that looks at, in the first instance, the reduction of waste through recycling, upcycling and minimisation. That is a given and we all support that. In getting to that better place we want to get to, we must still have a competitive edge or a capacity to manage the cost of waste disposal where certain waste products have to be disposed of. I am certainly prepared to ask the Department to have a further look at what that entails. There are different models out there that have been looked at. There is competition for the marketplace. There is the direct competition of a series of local operators. That is challenging because it is possible for others to buy up licences - that is the marketplace - but, of course, we also have to ensure citizens are not fleeced in the event of predatory practices of some large operators.