Municipal District: 21 May 2021

Motion: That the council provide a report detailing the volumes of and types of waste from public bins in the Celbridge-Leixlip municipal district, how this waste is being processed and the cost, what it is being converted to (recycling all or only some) and detail any measures required for improvement of our waste processing goals.

Report: Kildare County Council empty one 14 cubic metre skip every week full of street bin waste from Celbridge and one from Leixlip. This costs in the region of €25,000 just on skips per annum, however this system is now under extreme pressure due to the volume of waste being left at or in bin street bins. Kildare County Council policy of any bag any bin means the waste is all types of waste. These skips are collected by Greenstar/Panda under a central government procurement. The collection company advise the waste is sorted and either recycled or repurposed.

Issued by: Mr C O’Toole, A/Staff Officer, Roads, Transportation and Public Safety Department.

Discussion and outcome: Councillor Liston noted the report. She advised tidy towns carried out a survey on the waste and 50% was non-recyclable. Plastic bottles, cans and glass bottles made up a substantial portion of waste and if a water fountain was made available this may reduce this type of waste. She questioned what measures were put in place to improve the processing of waste, considering dog poo bags were contaminating it.

Mr Buggie advised that street bins are not for household waste and the waste in these bins was made up of items bought in the local shops. Kildare County Council follow the policy of ‘any bag any bin’ re dog fouling, considering this, the waste in the bins would be contaminated and due to health and safety reasons the staff would not sort this waste. Mr Buggie stated that segregation is not carried out by Kildare County Council but he would contact the providers to establish their practice. 

Resolved on the proposal of Councillor Liston, seconded by Councillor Cussen and agreed by the members, this item would remain on the progress report and that the report be noted.