Cost-of-living squeeze worsens as two bin companies hike prices

Thorntons Recycling and the City Bin Co have separately increased their collection prices shortly after having withdrawn and then resubmitted an acquisition proposal to the competition watchdog earlier this month. If approved, the deal would represent a substantial consolidation within the waste collection sector.

Separately, both companies recently raised their monthly prices, citing increased costs amid soaring energy bills.

City Bin Co chief executive Niall Killilea wrote to customers on December 17th, advising them that the company would be adding €1.99 to their monthly bill from January 1st, some six months after increasing prices by 99c.

“Since the end of last year, we have experienced increases in our costs and, unfortunately, they will take another jump from January 1st,” he wrote. “Global commodity prices and electricity cost increases will mean the cost of sorting and recycling our green bin material will increase by two-thirds. Come January, the cost of black bin disposal will have increased by over 10 per cent since the end of 2021. In the same period, our staff costs will have increased by more than inflation.”

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Thorntons, which is in the process of acquiring City Bin Co, also recently wrote to customers, informing them of a €2 increase to the price of their monthly collection service.

Over the summer, family-owned Padraig Thornton Waste Disposal, trading as Thorntons Recycling, agreed to buy Carducci Holdings, trading as City Bin Co, from shareholders including the company’s co-founder Gene Browne and private equity fund Carlyle Cardinal Ireland, which acquired a 45 per cent stake in the business in 2019. Because the annual aggregate turnover of the two waste management companies is more than €60 million, the proposal was notified to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) on August 3rd.

Adding its more than 80,000 customers to City Bin Co’s 50,000 would establish Thorntons as the second-largest waste collection company in the State, behind only Panda and Greenstar owner Beauparc. The CCPC is required to review the proposed transaction to determine whether it would lead to a substantial lessening of competition in the market, with potential negative effects for consumers.

The acquisition was subsequently withdrawn, according to the CCPC website, and then resubmitted on December 16th.

A spokesperson for the commission declined to comment on the reasons behind the proposal’s withdrawal. However, it is understood that parties to a transaction may withdraw the notification if the CCPC deems that full details have not been provided as part of the process.

Mr Killilea told The Irish Times that the acquisition proposal was withdrawn “in order to make some amendments to the notification” and then resubmitted within a matter of days.

Asked whether customers should be concerned that the merger will give them fewer options to shop around after the two companies separately announced price increases, he said: “We firmly believe that, if approved, the merged entity will do exactly the opposite – it will be able to provide a wider variety of services, at lower costs, to more customers.”

Operating profits at Carducci Holdings more than doubled in 2021 to almost €3 million, while operating profits at Thorntons, which had reported revenues of more than €92 million last year, increased by roughly one-third to €7.4 million.

Mr Killilea said the change in prices is “not expected to lead to any increase in profits but rather to cover the increasing cost of providing the service to our customers”.

Thorntons Recycling could not be reached for comment.