Major change in Laois wheelie bin waste collection services

Thousands of households and businesses in Laois will soon have a new company collecting their wheelie bins with confirmation that Bord na Móna has been permitted to sell its waste business into private ownership.

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) has cleared, subject to legally binding commitments, the controversial proposed acquisition by KAES Recycling Holdings Ltd, part of the KWD (Killarney Waste Disposal) Group, of Bord na Móna Recycling Ltd.

In clearing the deal, the Commission said steps had to be taken by the Kerry company to ensure there was competition in Leinster and Munster where it operated.

The CCPC also said that the waste business is not delivering strong outcomes for consumers in Laois and elsewhere.

KWD Group is a group of businesses owned and controlled by Seán Murphy/his family. The CCPC says  Bord na Móna Recycling Limited Recycling collects and processes more than 340,000 tonnes of waste from over 133,000 customers annually.

Bord na Móna Recycling Limited, which is owned by taxpayers, caters to both domestic and commercial and industrial sectors. It services customers in Counties Dublin, Kildare, Wicklow, Carlow, Wexford, Louth, Meath, Cavan, Westmeath, Offaly, Laois, Roscommon, Tipperary, Clare and Limerick.

The CCPC seen by the Leinster Express / Laois Live says the proposed acquisition was notified to it in February 2025 following "detailed pre-notification discussions between the merging parties and the CCPC’s case team".

The CCPC said that during a preliminary investigation into the deal, it had "particular concerns" about how levels of competition in certain parts of Leinster and Munster would be affected by the proposed acquisition. MORE BELOW PICTURE.

Bord na Mona entered the waste business in 2007 when it bought the privately run AES as the above truck shows.

To address the concerns, CCPC said KAES Recycling has agreed to divest a certain number of domestic and ‘commercial & industrial’ customers in these areas to another waste collection provider, to be approved by the CCPC. The CCPC has approved similar remedies in previous waste mergers such as Thorntons/City Bin and Pandagreen/Exomex.

The CCPC said the commitments given by KAES Recycling also include obligations that will ensure that transferring customers will be supported throughout the process and that they will be fully informed of their rights and options.

The CCPC has accepted the commitments made by KAES Recycling and approved the purchase. The CCPC adds that an independent monitoring trustee will be appointed to make sure that KAES Recycling complies with these commitments.

"Notwithstanding this merger decision, the CCPC continues to be of the view that the household waste collection market in Ireland is not delivering strong outcomes for consumers. It continues to be the CCPC’s view that structural changes are required in this market and that an economic regulator for household waste collection should be established," said a statement. 

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The sale almost led to a strike by SIPTU members employed by Bord na Móna. Apart from wanting their employment rights secured, the trade union also protested at the privatisation of the last publicly owned waste company in Ireland. SIPTU had called on Government to veto the sale.

Bord na Móna was reportedly in line to sell for €55 million. That would mean a multi-million loss to the taxpayer as Bord na Móna paid €61 million for the waste management company, formerly known as Advanced Environmental Solutions (Ireland), in 2007.