COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
Monday, October 09, 2023
QUESTION NO. 19
QUESTION: Councillor D. Ó Brádaigh
To ask the manager, from the annual cost of removing Illegally dumped material, is it possible to provide an estimate cost of removing discarded bulky household items?
REPLY:
This Council spends approximately €1.4m per year on the collection and removal of illegally dumped materials. Those costs include a substantial wages element as well as the cost of provision of vehicles complete with lifting equipment, fuel costs and the cost to dispose of the waste. While the illegally dumped waste consists of some bulky items the majority of it is illegally dumped and burned household waste as well as household materials which are collected illegally by unauthorised waste collectors.
The Council's Environment Dept previously provided a mobile collection service for both bulky waste and large white goods, this service was terminated in 2008 due to the economic downturn. The service was provided to households in RAPID areas once in every 3 years and to all other households once in 5 years, it was not provided to households on an annual basis. The cost to provide the service was in the region of €500,000 to €600,000 per annum to service a total of 20,000 households and the total quantity of waste materials collected was on average 1,500 tonnes per year. The costs associated with the various elements of such a service (labour costs, provision of collection equipment, fuel, materials and waste recycling/disposal costs for example) have increased in recent years, the overall costs given above would be expected to have increased by 25% or more over the 15 years since the last collection and would likely be in the region of €750,000 per year to provide a similar service.
It should be noted that the provision of a collection service for household bulky waste would have no impact on the illegal dumping of 'black bags' and burning of household black bag waste which forms the largest part of the illegal dumping problem in the County. Another point to bear in mind in this regard is that the new waste management plan for a circular economy represents a very clear shift towards the need to re-use household items or to prepare them for re-use, rather than dispose or recycle them. If this is to be achieved then it will involve the development of schemes and facilities where the preparation of items for re-use can happen, goods such as household furniture for example. It will no longer be seen as acceptable that such items are either disposed of or recycled, as Ireland transitions towards a Circular Economy.
The Council's recycling centre at Ballymount Avenue continues to accept bulky household waste items, in 2022 a total of 7,816 tonnes of this waste type was accepted at the Ballymount CA facility. Mattresses are also accepted at the CA site with 490 tonnes of mattresses accepted there in 2022 and a sizeable additional tonnage accepted through the mattress 'amnesty' which was held again in 2022. 847 Mattresses were collected as part of the Mattress Amnesty Programme to date in 2023, supported by Anti Dumping Initiative Funding. . Recycle IT provide a WEEE collection and acceptance service on behalf of the Council, this can be arranged to take place as a community service for which no fee is charged, or alternatively a collection can be arranged for an individual household for which a fee is payable. Household WEEE is also accepted at the Ballymount CA facility and these items are accepted free of charge there, in 2022 a total of 779 tonnes of WEEE items was accepted at the CA. The provision of these services including the acceptance of bulky waste at the CA, the annual mattress amnesty and the mobile and door to door collection service provided by RecycleIT provide easily accessible options to the householder with regard to the majority of household bulky items.