Fast fashion overwhelming Cork clothes bins as illegal dumping sees donation bays being removed

By Peter McCarthy, Corkman

Illegal dumping has become such a serious problem in locations with charity clothes bins that Cork County Council is removing them from community sites altogether.

Ted O'Leary of the Environmental Directorate of Cork County Council told a meeting of the Council's Southern Division that some of the charities that own the clothes bins are "overwhelmed" by the torrent of fast-fashion items being put in the bins or, when they're full up, being dumped on the ground next to the bins.

"That has become an issue in the county and I believe nationally in recent times. Fast fashion has led to a collapse in the international value of second-hand clothes, the market is swamped with it. It is an issue with a number of community sites at present," Mr O'Leary said.

Mr O'Leary added that when there's a problem with a clothes bin the council contacts the charity asking them to remove them. Failing that, the council will remove the bin.

"What's happening increasingly is that we're getting them removed from our sites," he said.

Macroom Municipal District Councillor Kate Lynch has seen the issue at the community hall in Aghabullogue village.

"Some people are coming there with bags and they're just dropping them on the ground in the site and it's really messy. We have cleaned it up and we got on to one crowd and they did come, but it's full again," she told the Irish Independent.

Regarding the removal of the clothes bins, Cllr Lynch said it will come to this because it's making the otherwise tidy amenity sites very hard to tidy and keep clean.

East Cork Councillor Ann Marie Ahern raised the same issue in Midleton, where three clothes bins situated at the Distillery Walk became a large-scale dumping site not only for clothes but also food waste, toys, prams, buggies, carry cots and even a mattress.

She put forward a motion to the East Cork Municipal District in December calling for a review of the situation.

"This was happening every week so I said, look, enough is enough. If the bins are not going to be respected, they need to be taken away. Unfortunately, in our municipal district it has resulted in and will result in the removal of the bins,” Cllr Ahern told the Irish Independent.

"So two of them are gone and one is probably going to be gone. That charity hasn't responded yet and the Council has notified them that if no response is given, they will have to enforce the removal of the bin.”

Cllr Ahern said she would prefer to see the charity bins moved to the Council's civic amenity sites where they can be properly monitored.

"Alternatively, they're just going to be removed from the public areas. It is a worthwhile cause and it was used correctly by the majority of people, but the point being that it's a minority that have actually taken this very good service away from the charities that rely on it," she said.

Cork County Council's Ted O'Leary didn't give a direct commitment to moving the bins to the Council's civic amenity sites. He said that if Councillors report locations where the bins are causing problems, the Council will look to engage with the operators and remove the bins if necessary.