Number of solar bins to be doubled

The council plans to double the number of solar bins across South Dublin over the next two years.

Over 100 solar compactor bins have been installed in the first phase of South Dublin County Council’s roll out of the units across the county, which supports “reducing the council’s daily operational carbon footprint”.

“To date, SDCC operates 102 solar compactor bins,” the council’s director of climate action Teresa Walsh stated in a written reply to a question at the March full council meeting.

She was responding to a question from Cllr Niamh Fennell (SF) on “how many solar bins are expected to be further delivered in phase two of this initiative, broken down by Local Electoral Areas”.

“The first phase of the provision of solar compactor bins has been completed with installations of over 100 units across Tallaght, Rathfarnham, Clondalkin in quarter three of 2025 and more recently in Lucan,” Ms Walsh said.

“The three-year capital programme 2026 -2028, has provided additional funding of €500,000 (€250,000 in 2026 and €250,000 in 2027) for the continuation of the phased role out of solar compactor bins,” she continued.

Approximately 50 units are set be installed in village centres in Rathcoole, Saggart, Palmerstown and Templeogue during 2026 as part of the second phase of the project.

These additional installations will be targeted at high-footfall areas such as town/village/district centres and busy park entrances, with the location of units for each village “being finalised and an update to councillors will issue shortly,” Ms Walsh said.

“A further 50 units will be installed in 2027 as part of the third phase, with locations to be determined based on the operational demands of the existing bin provision within the county.”

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme