A fuel surcharge is being added to bin collections because of the rise in costs sparked by the Gulf crisis.

Households face rising bills with one of the country’s largest waste management companies, Panda Waste, adding a fuel surcharge of €0.97 plus VAT per month, which brings the hike to €1.10 for domestic customers.

The company is blaming the increase on the price of oil on global markets due to the Middle East conflict.

The firm has more than 300,000 domestic customers – about one in seven homes – and a further 30,000 business clients, who now face an increase in their monthly waste bills.

In an email to customers, the company outlined why it is introducing the charge despite the recent Government package of supports to ease the full impact of rising fuel costs.

The letter said that like many businesses, ‘Panda has been hit hard by the recent spike in fuel prices in the last month driven by ongoing global instability’.

The waste management company continued: ‘Until now, we’ve absorbed these rising costs ourselves to protect our customers from changes to their bill.

‘Unfortunately, with prices continuing to climb, we are no longer able to do so without affecting the service you rely on.

‘From May 2026, your invoice will include an itemised temporary fuel surcharge of €0.97 plus VAT per month.’

The firm set out as an example that if a household has two collections per month on a three-bin collection service, the fuel surcharge works out at just over 16c plus VAT per collection.

However, many homes use the collection’s service weekly, so would end up paying more.

‘We want to be as transparent as possible and assure you of the following,’ the company added, outlining that it believes the surcharge to be ‘temporary, and will be reviewed each month’.

The email promised: ‘When fuel prices ease we’ll remove this charge and let you know as soon as possible. Your service will continue as normal.’

Other bin collection firms have not added a fuel surcharge but the rise in waste collection costs introduced by Panda will fuel concerns that other companies will also bring in similar charges.

Conor Walsh, secretary of the Irish Waste Management Association, said he was unable to talk about the pricing at individual companies but added that, in general terms, fuel costs had soared for members.

He said: ‘Fuel and labour are the two biggest costs faced by waste management companies.’

He said that although a lot of focus was put on companies when they increased their prices, costs to consumers over the past decade had climbed by significantly less than the general rate of inflation. Panda was contacted for comment.