Galway bin price war looming
Galway City Council is considering ‘abandoning’ its waste collection service at the end of the year as it continues to haemorrhage customers to the private sector, the Galway City Tribune can reveal.
It is expected to lead to a bidding war between private operators keen to snap up the lucrative contract.
And it places a question mark over the future of the bin waiver scheme for low income households and pensioners – in the region of 2,400 customers currently avail of the subsidy.
A spokesperson for the local authority confirmed to this newspaper yesterday (Thursday) that the new City Manager is undertaking a complete review of the waste collection service.
It is believed that the service will be put out to tender, with private operators competing for the contract
The Council currently collects from less than 11,000 households – slashed in half from a high of 22,000 customers nine years ago.
“The Manager is currently looking at the waste collection service in its totality and in the context of increased competition in the private sector,” the Council spokesperson said.
This Galway City Tribune understands that a proposal to offload the service will be brought before councillors next month – at the end of last year, Dublin City Council made a similar move.
The big private operators in the city – City Bin, Barna Waste, Walsh Waste and Greyhound – are all expected to make bids to take over the service.
Reacting to the news, Councillor Frank Fahy (FG) said he is “very disappointed”.
For more on this story, see the Galway City Tribune.