The High Court has granted Panda Waste Services interlocutory injunctive relief in a dispute over Greenstar’s removal of Panda-owned wheelie bins from customers who switched waste providers. The court said it would hear further submissions on the form of the order; the judgment does not set out the final wording of that order.
Panda, named in the judgment as Nurendale trading as Panda Waste Services, and Starrus Eco Holdings Limited trading as Greenstar both collect domestic waste in the greater Dublin region and elsewhere in the State. Their services typically provide households with bins for general waste, recycling and composting.
The judgment records that the parties did not dispute that bins supplied by Panda remained Panda’s property. During a customer recruitment campaign over Christmas 2014, Greenstar offered new customers six months of free collection in areas including Fingal and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown.
Panda said its usual practice when a customer changed provider was to retrieve its bins before the new provider supplied replacements. It argued that Greenstar instead took Panda bins to a central location, supplied its own bins and continued collections under a new agreement. Panda said the arrangement meant it might not learn of a customer’s switch until after the 14-day cooling-off period had expired.
Panda argued that removing its bins from householders’ homes amounted to trespass. Greenstar’s position, as recorded by the court, was that it acted with the customer’s authority. The judge considered whether Greenstar had raised a serious question to be tried about its right to take the bins and concluded it had not, taking account of the circumstances and the terms of customers’ contracts with Panda.
The court also considered the application under the principles in Campus Oil v Minister for Energy. It found there was a serious issue to be tried, that damages might not adequately address the potential harm to Panda’s goodwill and reputation, and that the balance of convenience favoured relief. The judge noted that neither company objected to lawful competition or marketing, but Panda objected to its property being moved to a location controlled by Greenstar.
The court therefore held that Panda was entitled to injunctive relief at the interlocutory stage. The judgment does not decide the underlying dispute after trial, and it leaves the form of the order to be settled following counsel’s submissions.