COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, December 08, 2014

QUESTION NO.5

QUESTION: Councillor M. Genockey

To ask the Chief Executive to outline the viability of installing dual purpose waste and recycle bins in place of the regular waste bins in villages and public areas in the county?

REPLY:

The proposal to replace the existing litter bins in the County with dual purpose bins requires an examination of a number of different aspects of this service.  There are approximately 600 litter bins in the County at present with close to 150 of these in town and village centre locations.  The bins are serviced by 5 operatives who drive side loading trucks, the 600 bin locations are assigned to one or other of the 5 daily collection routes in accordance with geographical location.  Each bin is inspected every day and when required the bin is emptied, which results in certain bins being service every day with others being serviced less frequently. 

In order to service dual purpose bins one or other of the following systems would have to be introduced; (1) the existing operatives could be provided with split body dual purpose trucks to service dual purpose bins, or (2) it would be necessary to double up on the collection routes, one for recyclables and the other for waste, using trucks similar to those currently in use.  Option 2 would require the provision of extra staff and trucks to provide this service, whereas option 1 would involve the replacement of the truck fleet.  It may also be necessary to restructure routes under option 1 and to assign additional staff resources.  There is also the cost involved in replacing the 600 bins, which at an estimated €500 per bin would amount to a total of €300,000 for bin replacement alone if all bins were to be replaced.

The waste collected from the County's litter bins is delivered to one or other of the waste transfer stations in the County which are licenced to accept this type of waste.  All such facilities have treatment processes in place for the segregation of waste into recyclable and disposable fractions, or alternatively they transfer their waste on to a facility where it can be sorted in this manner.  This aspect will require closer examination as it may mean that the waste is currently fully segregated, and that the installation of dual purpose bins may not result in any improvement in the segregation of the waste. 

It is proposed that all of the aspects mentioned above will be considered in detail and that a further report on the matter will be brought to the Council once all of the relevant information has been collated.