A new online scourge: illegal waste collectors
ILLEGAL waste collectors who dump rubbish in the countryside are using social media sites to peddle their services.
The criminal enterprises have been raised as worrying phenomenon, which said social media is ‘hugely contributing’ to, by Meath County Council.
In fact, illegal dumping in the county required €2million worth of clean-up operations last year.
In one instance, the council found a tonne of rubbish dumped outside a woman’s front gate. On another site, workers found 500kg of waste.
The council said there has been a rise in the level of dumping because people are paying these illegal waste collectors after seeing them online.
Meath community warden Alan Nolan has said that residents have to take responsibility for disposing of their rubbish because they are the ones who will be fined for dumping.
‘We are getting a lot more callouts this year,’ he said. ‘The dumping is indiscriminate. Although the bogs are usually worse, I found one tonne of rubbish dumped at a lady’s gateway, located quite openly on the outskirts of a town.’
Mr Nolan added: ‘Last week, I came across 500 kilos of rubbish on one site and I’d say 100% of that was recyclable, which would have cost the owner nothing to dispose of properly.’
According to Mr Nolan, one site in east Meath was destroyed with over one-and-a-half tonnes of waste material from a house clearance, which included appliances such as cisterns and ovens. Mattresses in particular are causing a problem, he said.
Mr Nolan believes the dumping incidents across Meath are up 40% in two years. In the last year alone, there were 950 reported cases – plus an extra 250 discovered by the environmental teams on patrol.
‘We have to go through every piece of rubbish looking for evidence before it’s collected by a waste collector contracted by us,’ he said, adding that it’s the owner of the waste – and not the illegal collector – who gets punished. ‘I know what’s in people’s credit union and bank accounts, I know what they buy in their weekly shopping from sifting through the rubbish,’ he said.
‘It’s through this that we trace the rubbish back to the owner, who gets the fine or the court appearance, not the waste collector.’
Meath County Council is urging internet users to stop and think before using the services of many unauthorised waste collectors, who, it says, are posting ads across Facebook and other social media channels.
Representatives of Facebook were contacted for comment on this story but one was not available before going to print.
In 2017, Meath County Council issued 125 litter fines and a further 12 were successfully convicted in court. Mr Nolan expects the figure for 2018 to be higher by the end of this year.
All the waste management companies in Ireland require a permit to operate, and using one that does not have a permit can result in hefty fines.
‘It’s the owner who gets the fine’