PUBLIC LITTER bins are being removed from residential areas by Dublin City Council in an attempt to crack down on illegal dumping of household rubbish.
The council has so far withdrawn almost 200 bins from the streets, some of which were underused, while others were being “abused” by householders who did not want to pay waste charges, according to the council.
The council began removing public bins from residential streets across the city in January last year. Up to the middle of last month it had taken away 198 bins, more than 100 of which were in the southeast of the city.
Most of the bins removed were removed because of underuse, but a quarter were being filled with household waste.
The council had installed 5,000 public bins throughout the city but decided to review their use because of budget constraints.
That review found there was a problem with bins in residential areas.
Continuing to service the underused bins was considered an “inefficient use of scare resources”, the council said.
Where bins were being used to dump household rubbish, the council tried reducing the size of the openings in the bin but that resulted in bags being “wedged” into the openings of bins or placed beside the bin, the council said. “Removal has proven to be the most effective way of eliminating abuse of bins,” the council said.
The city is split into five administrative areas and of the 198 bins removed, 103 were in the southeast, 34 were in the north-central area, there were 27 each in the central and south-central areas and just seven in the northwest area.
However, just four of those removed from the southeast, which includes Ranelagh, Sandymount and Rathmines, were due to abuse.
Abuse was worst in the north central area, which includes Coolock, Donaghmede, Raheny and Santry, where 18 of the bins had to be taken away because of household dumping.
The south-central area was worse than the central area, with 13 bins withdrawn because of abuse, most of them in Crumlin, compared with just six in the central area, half of which were in the Phibsborough/North Circular Road neighbourhood.
Although just seven bins were taken away in the northwest area, four were because of abuse: two in Ballymun and two in Finglas.
Labour councillor Oisín Quinn said he accepted the service was operating on a tighter budget than previously but said some of the bins removed from residential areas in the southeast were close to Luas stops or busy shopping areas.
“I realise that there are areas where bins might not get full so quickly, but the solution would be to alter the schedule so they are emptied less frequently, not get rid of them altogether.”
Fine Gael councillor Edie Wynne said that removing bins was not an appropriate response to illegal dumping.
