Don’t leave litter on top of park bins
By Aideen O'Flaherty
IT WAS previously reported in The Echo that the increased cleaning and litter bin servicing that South Dublin County Council has had in place over the weekends since the beginning of the pandemic costs approximately €260,000 per year.
The council is now urging people not to leave their litter beside or on top of full bins.
Overflowing bins in Tymon Park
The council increased their cleaning and litter bin services in April/May 2020 after they saw “a huge increase in footfall and usage of facilities”.
The local authority stated: “The servicing of litter bins in parks at weekends is a relatively new aspect of the cleansing and litterbin service, it was introduced in the first instance on bank holiday weekends in the four main parks and was then increased in the early days of Covid-19 restrictions to cover all park litter bins being serviced once over each weekend as well as on bank holidays when they occur.
“The cost of the weekend element of the cleaning and litter bin services which are currently in place in town and village centres and in parks is approximately €260,000 per year.”
The topic of overflowing litter bins in Tymon Park was raised at Monday’s monthly meeting of the Tallaght Area Committee by Independent councillor Mick Duff.
The council stated that they are trialling additional temporary bins at Corkagh Park, and if the trial is successful then the provision of temporary bins in Tymon Park will be considered.
They also appealed to park visitors not to leave their litter on top of or beside a full litter bin, and to instead take their rubbish home or put it in another litter bin.
The council said: “It is clear that litter is at times being left beside and on top of litter bins by people using the parks for legitimate purposes.
“It is most likely the case that users see this as responsible disposal of waste items such as coffee cups etc however these items usually end up on the ground, scattered around the park and contributing to the litter problem.”
It was suggested by Cllr Duff that Big Belly solar bins should be placed in Tymon Park, however the council said that there is “regrettably no funding in place at the present time to cover the substantial cost in providing this bin type”, with each bin unit costing in the region of €6,000.
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