TWO COMPANIES behind A1 Waste, one of the biggest operators in the waste management sector, face being wound up over the coming weeks.

Dean Waste and its subsidiary, Neiphin Trading, which are key parts of the group, are set to hold creditors meetings in Dublin later this month, at which liquidators will be appointed to both.

A1 Waste is controlled by Dublin businessman Tony Dean. Construction and demolition waste formed a large part of its business and the group said last year that the slump in building had hit trade.

The most recently available accounts for Dean Waste show that it made a profit of €98,000 in 2008 and €9 million the previous year, which coincided with the peak in the building boom.

Mr Dean is known to be a Fianna Fáil supporter and A1 Waste donated cash to the party earlier in the decade.

Last year, the Circuit Court fined Mr Dean €10,000 after he pleaded guilty to recovering waste without a licence.

A1 Waste had illegally dumped construction waste at a site in Wicklow in 1998.

While Mr Dean pleaded guilty, A1 Waste’s lawyers argued that in 1998, the legislation relating to waste-management licences was not clear and pointed out that a Wicklow local authority was dumping at the same site.

Earlier this year, Neiphin Trading clashed with the Environmental Protection Agency over the licensing of its landfill site in Kerdiffstown near Naas, Co Kildare.

The agency said the company had broken the terms of its permit.

The High Court subsequently ordered Neiphin to stop taking waste at the Kerdiffstown site, pending the outcome of a full hearing.

The Irish Timesmade a number of attempts to contact A1 Waste for a comment yesterday, but was not successful.