Frustration as commercial waste is not accepted at Holmestown
TONNES OF OLD RUBBISH BEING DUMPED AT CHARITY SHOP
A charity shop owner who has tonnes of rubbish dumped outside his business every month has criticised Wexford County Council for refusing to take the rubbish when it was brought to Holmestown Waste Management Facility.
Bart Murphy owns Bart’s Cancer charity shop chain and says refusing commercial rubbish collection sends out the wrong message at a time of increased illegal dumping across the county.
Mr Murphy said he had around 20 tonnes of rubbish that he needed dumped from his Traceystown business.
‘Holmestown is my closest waste facility. I can fit more into a silage trailer than I can fit into a skip. I have to get rid of seven loads under environmental standards as the council’s environmental officer said I have to clean up.
‘I got a section 55 in April to comply with the standards. I brought the first load [in a silage trailer] and went to the hatch. I had imagined its was OK to tip the load. Two lads came out and they told me that they had no capacity to take my rubbish and there wasn’t another (council) place I could go to.’
Mr Murphy ended up going to Murray Waste in Ferns and four loads were taken in one day.
‘The council are going around advertising on the radio about dumping. They should be able to take rubbish at the local recycling centre.’
Among the items dumped outside his premises are bulky items like old beds, furniture and fridges.
While attending a funeral earlier this month people pulled up and dumped numerous items outside his business. ‘Ninety per cent of the stuff I was bringing [to Holmestown] was dumped on me at my gate. It got worse before the virus and it’s after getting even worse over recent weeks.’
A spokesperson for Wexford County Council said: ‘While
Wexford County Council does not comment on individual cases I can confirm that we have a network of four Household Recycling Centres in or close to the four main towns in Co Wexford. A large range of household recyclables can deposited by members of the public at any of these centres from Tuesday to Saturday for a nominal fee.’
All the centres have been open during the pandemic and continue to do so, the spokesperson said. ‘One of these centres – Holmestown Waste Management Facility – also accepts non-recyclable household waste and bulky items. The landfill at Holmestown was closed in 2012 to commercial customers and now caters for household waste, so unfortunately it cannot accept very large quantities of commercial waste. However, commercial customers and businesses can avail of a number of authorised private waste operators with waste management facilities in County Wexford who cater for commercial waste in all quantities. To avoid waste pollution in beautiful Co. Wexford, all businesses and householders are urged to use only authorised waste collectors with waste permits and authorised waste management facilities for their waste management needs.’