International Review of Waste Management Policy - Department of ...

costs were 20-25 percent higher in regions where there was competition in the
market as opposed to competitive tendering. 84
The first reason given above is an important one. In principle, competition in the
market could be ‘made to work’. However, it seems likely to us that the scope of the
regulations and institutions which would be required to achieve this would be so
complex as to make such an outcome both difficult and costly to achieve.
3.5 Competition for the Market
The Competition Authority notes that if a competitive tendering process were applied
to the Irish market it would ‘work better’ for consumers. 85 It suggested that if a
tendering process for waste contracts were used, a number of the problems
associated with competition in the market could be avoided:
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on the basis of The Competition Authority’s extensive enquiries into household
waste collection, it appears that the market for household waste collection is
not working well for consumers. One solution - even if it could be
demonstrated that Greenstar charged excessive prices – would be price
regulation. Neither The Competition Authority nor the courts are equipped for
such regulation. Furthermore, a waste regulator would also face a very difficult
if not impossible task of setting prices, either on a State-wide or regional
basis, since it is unlikely to have the information to set the competitive price.
Costs and market conditions vary widely across the State.
In The Competition Authority’s view there are better alternatives than a
regulator to set prices for household waste collection. In the countries
reviewed the predominant form of service provision in household waste
collection is via competitive tendering. This international experience
demonstrates that competitive tendering is the best method of ensuring that
household waste collection providers deliver consumers good service at
competitive prices. This system of competition for for the market should replace
the existing model of competition within the market, i.e., where waste
providers compete side-by-side with each other.
Competition for the market would be set up to control the natural monopoly that is
municipal waste collection. For the process to be efficient, as many service providers
as possible should be competing for the tender (which would be offered on a regular
basis). If local government were to be one of the bodies putting themselves forward to
tender the concern about the dual role of the local authority would be addressed
while simultaneously ensuring the maximum number of competitors for the market.
84 OECD (2000) Competition in Local Services: Solid Waste Management, DAFFE/CLP(2000)13.
85 The Competition Authority (2005) Decision of The Competition Authority (Case COM/108/02)
concerning Alleged Excessive Pricing by Greenstar Holdings in the Provision of Household Waste
Collection Services in Northeast Wicklow, 30 th August 2005, available at:
http://tca.ie/search.aspx?SearchTerm=e/05/002