COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, July 13, 2026

QUESTION NO.12

QUESTION: Councillor D. Loftus

To ask the Chief Executive to provide a report, by LEA, on the number and location of public bins and bin sites available for public use.

REPLY:

The Council provides and maintains 850 public litter bins and 70 public recycling bring-bank sites across the County. Provision is focused on town centres, villages, district centres, parks, high-footfall public spaces and locations where there is an identified operational need. The Public Realm Section manages this network as part of the wider street cleansing, litter management and public realm maintenance service.

A countywide review of public bin provision is ongoing. As part of this work, the Council is mapping existing public bin stock and is assessing priority locations for the further roll-out of smart, solar-powered compactor litter bins. Where opportunities allow, collection routes will be optimised to take advantage of the benefits of the smart technology.

A revenue provision of €100,000 was made in 2026 to support additional litter bin provision, similar to the provision made in 2025. The 2026-2028 Capital Programme includes a total provision of €500,000 for the continued rollout of smart, solar-powered compactor bins. Currently the council operates 130 smart, solar-powered compactor bins (15% of total bin stock), with access to live data in relation to usage, maintenance and remaining available capacity, with the aim to improve capacity in urban centres and priority park locations, reduce the occurrence of overflowing bins, and support more efficient servicing through the use of real-time usage data. An additional 20 units will be installed by the end of 2026, with an additional 50 units to be installed in 2027.

Once the current capital programme roll-out is complete, it is expected that the Council will operate approximately 200 smart solar-powered litter bins across the County (Q2 - 2027). These bins form part of the Council’s wider approach to improving public realm maintenance, supporting cleaner public spaces and making more effective use of operational resources.

In addition to public litter bins, the Council manages a network of public recycling bring-bank sites across the County. More than 70 bring-bank sites are managed and maintained in the SDCC area, with new sites examined where required to support public recycling objectives. These locations are monitored as part of the Council’s wider litter and waste enforcement activity, particularly where dumping or misuse arises. The current provision meets the Council’s objective of providing glass recycling facilities within a 1km radius of residential properties throughout the county.

On completion of the current county wide review and survey, the council will map all locations and the information can be accessed by the public through the council web site. It is expected the information will be available on the council web site by September 2026.