This time of year can - according to studies - lead to some anti-social behaviour such as an increase in graffiti.

Irish start-up FoodCloud was celebrating last week after winning a �24,000 prize, a Virgin Media Business broadband package, mentoring and brand support in the finals of the Virgin Media Business VOOM 2016 Competition.

Minister for Local Government Simon Coveney is �not happy� with waste collector Greyhound after the company moved to automatically transfer customers to pay-by-weight bin charges unless they actively opt out.

The 250,000 customers of waste collector Greyhound, will be automatically transferred to pay-by-weight bin charges on July 1st unless they actively opt to remain on their current price plans, it has emerged.

UK adults will use nearly 7.7 billion single use plastic water bottles this year, adding to the rising tide of plastic pollution, according to new OnePoll research on behalf of water filter experts BRITA.�

The Waste Facility Permit Holder Training Programme, developed by Environmental Training Solutions, will take place on Thursday, 7 July 2016.

IWMA members have agreed a number of measures which will alleviate consumer concerns regarding pricing and will also alleviate the impact on households where there is a health issue that requires the use of non-infancy incontinence wear.

It is an old clich� - where there�s muck there�s brass. The privatisation of household waste-collection in the last decade helped to develop an industry that - across all its sectors - now turns over more than �645 million a year and employs 4,200 people.

Environment Minister Simon Coveney plans to freeze bin charges in an attempt to quell public anger and prevent the fiasco surrounding waste collection developing into the next Irish Water.

The waste-collection industry has been labelled a �cartel without competition� ahead of structural price changes due next month.

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) has said it is to carry out a �full phase 2 investigation� over Panda�s proposed acquisition of waste management rival Greenstar.

Residents of almost 1,000 Dublin streets are to be given exemptions from new rules requiring the use of wheelie bins instead of refuse sacks from July 1st.

The head of Cork County Council�s environment directorate is to recommend that a lease be given to waste management company Indaver to bury ash from its proposed incinerator in Cork harbour at a local landfill.

Irish shoppers throw away on average �400 a year in food waste. In new research, commissioned by Aldi, it was also found that only 13% of all adults never dispose of unused food.

The Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) recently carried out a series of targeted actions to combat waste crime.