This article is from page 17 of the 2006-08-08 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 17 JPG
A MIDWEST businessman has called for regulations which would level the playing field when it comes to waste collections in different counties. Mr Binman boss, Martin Sheehan Snr, told The Clare People that he collects waste in seven different areas and has to deal with different rules in each of them.
He was responding to an announcement from Environment Minister, Dick Roche, of Government approval to initiate a public consultation on regulation of the waste management sector.
“In recent years we have put in place a robust system of environmental regulation to ensure that the waste management sector can operate in a sustainable manner. The time has now come to examine whether there is a need for a better system of socio-economic regulation to complement this,” the Minister said.
But Sheehan, head of one of the biggest waste collection businesses in the MidWest, with collection services in Clare, Kerry, South Tipperary, Limerick county and city, Waterford and Kilkenny, said the Minister should standardise the regulations in every county.
“If you look at the permits we have, there are lots of differences from one county to the next. For instance, in some places you can collect dry recycleables in bags, in others they have to be in a bin and in another, there has to be a third bin. There’s no standard operating procedure which makes it very difficult. If the minister plans to regulate the waste collectors, he should also regulate the way local authorities draw up their rules,” he said.
Sheehan also claimed that the situation makes it very difficult for companies like his to expand and do business in neighbouring counties. “I need a permit to go into each county and I have no problem with that but they should be standard permits. There should be one waste strategy across the board,” said Sheehan.
Announcing that he was starting the consultation process, the Minister said: “We now have a waste management marketplace which, unlike other similar sectors, has not got an independent regulator. It is timely to consider if such independent regulation is now warranted and, if so, the form it should take.”
Minister Roche added that he is keeping an open mind on the matter and wants to hear the concerns of the various people involved, “most particularly the public”.