COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, September 13, 2021

QUESTION NO.25

QUESTION: Councillor F. Timmons

To ask the Chief Executive for a detailed report on big belly bins, has a cost analysis been done? when will they be rolled out in SDCC? has any other options been considered? would there be any staff loss of employment due to these bins or would staff be redeployed?

REPLY:

Solar powered, smart street litter bins were considered by the Environment, Public Realm and Climate Change SPC over the 2019/2020 period.  A limited trial of this bin type was carried out in the Rathfarnham area which 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 in these locations.  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 would be expected to arise.  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 to replace existing standard litter bins in town and village centre locations only is €420,000.  A project to replace all existing litter bins across the County, at a rate of one solar bin replacing 2 standard bins, would cost in the region of €2.5m.  The figures presented in the reports to the SPC indicate that savings could be achieved through improved management of the service made possible by the smart technology, the compaction potential of the equipment and the opportunity to change to a service which responds to the need to service bins rather than one which is planned to take place on a daily basis at the present time due to the lack of information on the status of the bin at any given time.  The savings would come in the form of reduced labour and machinery costs arising from the reduction in the number of operatives and vehicles required to provide the service, and also savings in the form of reduced fuel costs arising from the flexible and responsive nature of the service.

The following guideline figures can be provided at this time, however a full cost benefit analysis is being prepared at the present time for further consideration.