Waste compactor unveiled in Temple Bar to help get bin bags off city streets
A substantial waste compactor unit has been unveiled at the edge of Dublin’s Temple Bar as part of a trial of the waste collection model for the capital.
The large van-sized unit, at the junction of Dame Street and Fownes Street Upper, will be available from next week for businesses and residents in the pilot area.
It will handle their black bin waste and can take up to 500 bin bags of refuse.
These will then be crushed to between a quarter and a third of their original size, to be collected the following morning by the scheme operators, Panda and KeyGreen.
A second waste compactor for dry mixed recyclables is set to be installed alongside the first in the coming weeks, with similar units also installed at St Stephen’s Green.
Dublin City Council’s Director of Services, Derek Kelly, said people in the pilot area have the option of either walking to the unit with their waste, or availing of a cargo bike service offering door-to-door collection for an additional fee.
He said between 70 to 80pc of businesses using the compactors in the pilot area are opting for the door-to-door collection model so far.
The council is now in the process of removing the derogation which allows these businesses to present their rubbish for collection in plastic bags on the street, introduced in 2016.
Mr Kelly said the preferred waste option for businesses is using wheelie bins, but the new options are to address the cohort who currently put their bin bags on the street.
“I think this will be a really positive initiative. It’ll show that we mean business, that we’re not just talking about a clean city,” he said.
“We’ve done all our operational enhancements, we’ve recruited extra people.”
DCC’s head of waste, Barry Woods, said the units would be running as part of an 11-month trial, and will also be introduced to serve 110 streets on the northside at a later date.
“It’ll be an area from Capel Street to Gardiner Street, and up to Parnell Square and back to the Quays,” he said.
If the trials go well, the council will apply for planning permission for the units which would then become a permanent scheme.
Dublin’s Lord Mayor Ray McAdam said: “We are aiming to clean up the city, and part of that initiative is to make sure that businesses in the core commercial district can dispose of their rubbish at a compactor like this, as opposed to presenting their rubbish on the streets in the evening.
“This is about trying to clean up our streetscape of unnecessary clutter.”
The waste compactor trial comes after the council added 100 people to DCC’s waste management roster, bringing it to 540 personnel, and announced an €8.5m expansion of its street cleaning fleet.