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

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1. Whether the private sector has the right to compete for the provision of
services to households;
2. Whether a local authority can direct waste which it does not itself collect into
specific facilities, specifically, in the case of Dublin, whether collection permits
could be specified such that this could occur;
3. If the answer to 2) is ‘yes’, then under what circumstances could such
direction into a facility whose position is in the lower tiers (recovery / disposal)
of the waste hierarchy be said to compromise the movement of waste up the
hierarchy.
In addition, in respect of 2), we find it difficult to see how a local authority could avoid
the charge that it was:
1. Supporting the establishment of a monopoly on the part of the facility in
question;
2. Thereby, effectively opening up waste collectors to discriminatory pricing on
the part of the operator; as well as
3. Through affecting journey times to and from facilities, significantly affecting
the costs of waste management on the part of both the providers and the
users of the waste management service being provided.
These matters are, in the existing legal framework, for the courts, and for the
Competition Authority to decide upon. Their determinations will affect how one
construes ‘the baseline’ from which it is intended that the situation should change.
Our remit has been to propose policies which we believe would further the cause of
Irish waste management in terms, broadly speaking, of its overall performance in cost
and environmental terms. Irrespective of the interpretation of existing law, therefore,
we believe the recommendations to be the right ones for Ireland.
However, there will be transition costs, and these will be affected by the decisions of
the courts (which will influence, for example, whether the actions of private actors in
providing household waste collection services should be considered as a ‘public
undertaking’, and hence, how any transition to a situation where local authorities
have exclusive control over waste management might occur). Providing adequate
time for the current incumbents to react and determining the appropriate
geographical regions of tender also requires attention. Also, seeking to ensure
‘competitive neutrality’, which is to say, seeking to ensure that advantages which a
given bidder might possess are neutralised as far as possible, is an important step in
implementing a system of competitive tendering.
We take the view that if the proposed changes are announced some time in advance
of when they are due to take effect, then this should allow for adjustment in the
existing market to take place in anticipation of the proposed change. Equally, the lead
time should not be excessive. The following issues are of relevance:
1. Some local authorities may wish to develop single-client structures such that
they let tenders jointly for collection services. We would encourage local
authorities to consider the options without necessarily confining themselves to
partners within the existing waste management planning regions;
International Review of Waste Policy: Annexes