COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

south dublin county council crest

MEETING OF RATHFARNHAM AREA COMMITTEE

Tuesday, February 08, 2011

QUESTION NO. 4

QUESTION: Councillor J. Lahart

"To ask the Manager to outline some statistics for bin collections in the Rathfarnham area, to include:

1)   Rate of take up of the brown bin in percentage terms
2)   Rate of pick up by freighter on average on a bi-weekly basis
3)   How many homes are not availing of a local authority bin service
4)   How many customers have 'switched' to private operators since 2009
5)   What steps are taken to win these customers back."?

REPLY:

There are 70 bin routes operated by the refuse collection staff every week collecting by rota residual and compostable waste.  The presentation rate of the black bin is approximately 50% each fortnight while the brown bin fortnightly presentation rate is approximately 20%.  The green bin, which is operated by a private contractor on the Council's behalf, has a 70% presentation rate.

The bin freighter lifts approximately 15,000 brown bins on the bi weekly scheduled collection.

Approximately 3,600 bins are classified as inactive accounts; there is no specific obligation on households to inform the Council if they no longer use the integrated waste service and so there may be customers who have stopped utilising the service but have not informed us of their intentions.  Certain private contractors are submitting details to the council of customers who have transferred their accounts which allows accounts to be deactivated and bins listed for removal.

The integrated waste system provided by the Council includes all of the elements, which contribute to a cleaner county.  In essence it includes the residual waste collection, the bio waste collection, the green bin service, the civic amenity centre, the major infrastructure of the landfill, the transfer station and regional waste to energy project, the awareness and promotion elements, the bring banks, the enforcement unit.   The Council provides the customer with maximum control of waste costs by charging per lift and with no fixed charges.  Every household has 2 Brown Bin (140 litre), 2 Green Bin (240 litre) and 2 Black Bin (240 litre) collection each month.