Panda compost/brown bin

Pre-pack fruit and veg in supermarkets basically needs to stop, entirely and immediately. I have noticed that the worst excesses - e.g. apples being sold in polystyerene trays wrapped in clingfilm like they were when I was a kid - seems to be mostly gone; but bags of carrots and so on have to go. Its utterly pointless and its 100% at the behest of the supermarkets that it's sold that way - to save a few seconds at the checkout.

I do most of my veg shopping in a greengrocer that just stopped even offering plastic bags a few years ago - they used to have bags for when you were pciking and bigger bags for when you paid. It makes checkout a tiny bit slower; and some people do still have to ask for a bag when they pay; but I have a decent amount of cloth bags so there should always be at least one in the car; when they get a bit manky they go in the wash with other stuff. Probably stopped hundreds of flimsy plastic bags going to, at best, incineration since they did that.

Although I don't typically fill my brown bin to the brim between collections, I've noticed that even when it's only half or a quarter full, it can still emit unpleasant odors in the summer and attract unwanted pests like flies and vermin.

That's why I remember being advised to put the brown bin out for every collection, to prevent these issues from becoming a bigger problem. Since there was no fee for the compost bin collection, it made sense to follow this advice and put it out regularly.

I've personally submitted an email objection to the new charge for each lift of the brown bin, and I would strongly encourage others to do the same in writing. Let's make our voices heard!

This is on Pandas website but you have to dig for it and put in an address to see the price plans. Find it https://www.panda.ie/plan/waste-only/

Waste   1-3 households    4+ households

Monthly price     --    €22.50

Service charge   €125.00    --

Discount    €30.00    €22.50

Estimated annual bill   €210.00    €247.50

Monthly waste allowance   n/a    65kg

Waste excess per kg       €0.28

Cost per lift   €10.25   

Recycling allowance   n/a    Unlimited

Recycling cost per lift   €0.80   

Recycling cost per kg   €0.04   

Compost allowance   Unlimited    Unlimited

Compost per lift   €3.80   

Panda sell the brown waste to the Energia Group. This was in the Independant Mar 2019.

Energia Group has signed a €50m bioenergy agreement with waste-management group Panda.

Energia will convert 70,000 tonnes of Panda organic waste collected from black and brown bins from across the Dublin area into electricity at its soon-to-be commissioned Huntstown Bioenergy Plant.

Panda - a subsidiary of the Beauparc waste management group - will begin supplying organic waste to Energia in June when the new plant begins its commissioning phases.

You might be better to contact them directly and ask. We pay service charge in Jan and June and bin lifts paid on demand(few days after lift). 12 month contract starts in Jan.

I emailed to complain about the charge and got an automated response that a member of staff will contact us but could take up to one working day.

A few years ago they were going lift and charge per weight and there was uproar. They are gradually introducing the charges. First increase the 6 monthly service charge and then pay per weight for green bin and lift charge of the bin. Now the brown bin and lift charge of the brown bin.

I received the same plan offer but anyone who is offered this plan and has only very light usage should be careful about accepting. Friends of mine have been offered a much different plan with an ANNUAL Service Charge of €90 which is the same as I paid last year plus lift/weight charges (see below). I checked back my actual lifts and weights for last year using this plan and it comes to €167, (€12 more than last year but quite some saving over a flat €210)

Yearly Service Charge.....90.00

General Waste per lift.......4.35

General Waste per Kg.......0.31

Recycling per lift.............1.30

Recycling per Kg.............0.065

Compost per lift..............3.08

Compost per Kg..............0.188

EDIT: This is in DLR.

They say also

Shortly after the 1st May, we will apply a credit/payment of 70.92 to your account in unused service charge previously paid. This will be discounted from your next invoice.

My parents are ~80 and though on good pensions are not stupid with money.

They would perhaps only put out a full black bin twice a year and use the local recycling centre in DLR weekly to take whatever green waste they have and so put the green bin out only occasionally too.

The received the proposed change in pricing structure, as outlined in posts above to begin in May, in the post two days ago, 52.50/Q etc.

Considering they had paid €77 p.a. in January to cover the basic charge for the whole year, they were less than impressed, and so Panda inadvertently unleashed onto themselves my Mother in full battle mode, a sight that despite her gently advancing age, had become no less awesome in all the time I've known her.

The main thrust of her argument was, than despite economic inflation of say 10% and even allowing for sectoral rates being a bit higher, their proposed increase of 173% amounted to thievery and that the Directors of Panda really ought to explore methods of engaging in copulation with themselves.

Although it took about 45 minutes on the phone, she completed the call having had her annual rate reduced to that already paid and with a €50 credit to be applied to her account by way of an apology for any upset caused.

So, despite their appalling practice and customer service, theres the precedent folks, nobody should just accept paying what is being notified to people now, phone them, get it reversed and make sure to humiliate Panda as a brand anytime you get the chance, because they need to catch a grip on reality.

What are the new rates for DLR with Panda? I received no notification of increase.

Each colour bin is collected by a different truck.

I pay Thorntons by weight of my black bin only - brown and green are not charged.

Thorntons also give the produced compost away!

Lots of other minor issues with them so they're not idea, but this claim that everyone else pays for brown bins is untrue.

I didn't think integrated sink waste disposal units were allowed here? That just shreds your stuff and pumps it into the drains, right?

I am not aware of any prohibition. They are extremely common in other countries. The shredded food waste is almost liquid, and is a lot easier to handle than human waste. I actually don't use it very often, but it is useful to have an alternative to composting for meat waste.

I Got the below for DLR (in brackets I've add the cost last year and % change)

Yearly Service Charge    €90 (67.07 up 34%)

General Waste Per Lift   €4.35 (€3.354 Up 30%)

General Waste Per Kg   €0.31 (€0.29 up 7%)

Recycling Per Lift           €1.30 (€0.80 Up 63%)

Recycling per Kg            €0.065 (€0.045 Up 44%)

Compost Per Lift            €3.08 (€2.683 Up 19%)

Compost Per Kg            €0.188 (€0.168 Up 12%)

*Brown Bin Service charged 2022 was €5.50 per 1/4 or €22 p/a - No mention of any change

Doing a quick tot on my bins I paid approx. €300 in 2022 & 2021 (Young child in Nappies contributing significantly I'd Say)

2022- 344Kg General/ 144 Kg Brown/ 165 Kg Green.

Despite being encouraged to recycle there is a huge increase percentage wise here! Interesting some CC areas have/had unlimited Green or Brown waste.

I know as a result of the charges I don't use the Brown bin for Grass or garden waste and Bring large cardboard every so often to the recycling center (conveniently beside where I work)

We are in DLRCoCo. We got a black, green and brown bin when Panda took over.

We never used the brown bin. We were being charged for it. We asked them to take it back. They declined on the basis that they were obliged to supply it. However, they did cancel the service charge.

We got an invoice in February for the service charge to February of 2024. We paid it in full. Can PANDA charge us more if we have already settled the service charge fee for the next year ? The proposed increase seems outlandish but we will wait and see what they actually try and charge.

Is there a regulator to supervise PANDA and their competitors ?

This is so frustrating. We have never used that brown bin and never used the green bin either once they started charging for it. We are able to recycle virtually everything - including glass - in Ringsend as it is not far away. I feel very sorry for elderly or immobile people who have no option except to put out bins.

Are they seriously trying to get us to recycle or do they tempt certain people to revisit fly tipping ?

In DLR myself and was with greyhound.

Pay by weight. Never even looked at the lifts or weights over the years. Was getting absolutely reamed in charges.

Service charge, Lift Charges, Per Kg charge.

When I went over it there was periods of a about a month or month and a half where charges were up in the 100 euro range. Mad money

I was filling the compost bin with grass and weighed a ton, getting charged near 20 quid a lift each time. always thought it was free haha.

Switched to panda 16.75 a month. As much compost and recycling as you want. and about a 40 or so KG allowance a month for general waste.

0.28c for any extra kg, so even if we go over by 20 kg which we won't, that's 2.80 and still cheaper than the greyhound lift charge.

Was close to 600 last year.

If you're a heavy waste home the set monthly charge is decent.