COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF RATHFARNHAM/TEMPLEOGUE/FIRHOUSE/BOHERNABREENA AREA COMMITTEE

Tuesday, February 09, 2021

MOTION NO. 8

MOTION: Councillor E. Murphy

That the Chief Executive please provides a report on the Big Belly Solar Bin project which was conducted in Rathfarnham?

REPORT:

The matter of solar powered, smart street litter bins has been considered by the Environment, Public Realm and Climate Change SPC over the last 18 months.  In 2019 the SPC agreed that a limited trial of this bin type would be carried out in the Rathfarnham area.  This consisted of the removal of existing standard litter bins in Rathfarnham Village, Rathfarnham Castle playground and at Rosemount shopping centre and replacement with a total of 8 solar powered litter bins.  The trial commenced in November 2019 and concluded in April 2020, with reports on the outcome of the trial presented to the May and September meetings of the SPC during 2020.  The first of those reports presented the findings from the trial in relation to the frequency of servicing required by the solar powered bins compared with the standard litter bin, and the potential to reduce the frequency of collection which might come about.  The second report presented a further exercise whereby different locations were examined and considered for the use of this bin type, in particular the replacement of standard bins in town and village locations was examined with some preliminary figures presented regarding likely costs, potential savings and the possibility of attracting income from advertising on these bins.  The estimated cost for a limited roll-out of 70 of these units is €420,000 which obviously has not been provided for in the 2021 revenue budget and a source of funding would have to be provided before any roll-out could be considered.  In this regard the Chief Executive has asked that a full cost benefit analysis be carried out on the proposal before any decision can be taken for a roll-out of this bin type to proceed.