By Mark Donlon

Dublin City Council have 3,200 bins in operation within its jurisdiction.  Of these bins, there are none which cater for waste other than solid rubbish.

The figure of 3,200 bins is an approximation based on the number of bins Dublin City Council (DCC) say tend to be in operation at any one time. Of that total number, there is an estimated 1,170 bins situated in either Dublin 1 or Dublin 2, the postal codes which represent Dublin’s North and South inner city respectively.

According to Simon Brock of DCC’s Waste Management Services, there is no segregated litter bin system in place in these areas.

“The number of City Centre facilities for waste disposal other than solid rubbish is around the 100 mark,” explained Brock. “Of those facilities, the vast majority would be bring centres and bottle banks at civic amenity sites.

“Segregated bins for rubbish disposal of all types were trialed a number of years ago with no success and then last year another trial was carried out with segregated bins placed in locations on Wolfe Tone Square and South King Street, but again it didn’t work.”

The most damning culprit for the trial system was one which has been running the gauntlet in recent years. “In the case of 2018, coffee cups were the biggest contaminant,” said Brock.

Despite the unsuccessful attempts to combat inadequate city waste disposal, Dublin City Council plans to make another attempt at solving this problem come 2020. They also plan to tackle the amount of waste from the city going to landfill.

“Roughly 10% of all waste collected in the City Centre ends up in landfill,” said Brock. “That’s a figure we always want to decrease.”

So what is the message from Dublin City Council?

While the council must devise a more simplistic improvement which makes correct waste disposal easier for the urban population, the urban population also must react accordingly and make proper use of improved facilities.