SINN FÉIN TD Darren O’Rourke has said families are being “punished” for using the Deposit Return Scheme after reports that waste management companies are to increase bin charges as a result of lost revenue.

The Irish Independent reported earlier today that waste management companies could accumulate up to €15 million in lost revenue each year as they no longer sell the same tonnage of PET plastics or aluminum, both recyclable materials, to producers.

Though the newspaper reports the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications is engaging with waste management unions, O’Rourke has said Government inaction in the privatisation of the industry has brought us to this point.

“Ultimately, the government’s hands-off approach to waste management is not working. The private market continues to bolster a system in which perverse incentives dominate because households are punished for doing the right thing,” the Meath East TD said.

Sinn Féin Meath East TD Darren O'Rourke. RollingNews.ie RollingNews.ie

He added that it is “absurd” that households are expect to make up the lost profit of a few waste corporations and that the Government should be looking to take back control of the waste management sector.

“Multiple EU states have proven that this is the way forward – not only is it better for consumers, but it is better for the environment too,” O’Rourke, the party’s spokesperson for Climate Action and the Environment said.

“Ordinary workers and families deserve a waste management system that doesn’t treat them as the collateral damage in the pursuit of profit maximisation,” he added.

The Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications has been contacted for comment.