SDCC collected an average of 13.6 tonnes of illegally dumped material a day in 2016
By Aura McMenamin
There was nearly 5,000 tonnes of illegally dumped material collected by the council in 2016, but illegal dumpers appear to be wising up, with less fines issued than in the previous year, according to a local councillor.
Last year marked an increase of almost 1,000 more tonnes of illegally dumped material collected by the council than in 2015.
According to South Dublin County Council’s annual report, there were 4,995 tonnes of illegal waste collected by the council in 2016, compared to 4,000 the year before.
This amounts to 13.6 tonnes of illegally dumped waste collected a day in 2016, compared to 11 tonnes a day in 2015.
Labour councillor Mick Duff said people’s attitude to dumping was ‘stag-gering’. He commented: “It’s staggering to think that people think it’s alright to take their rubbish to parks, estates and open green spaces and dump it there.”
The amount of waste collected from illegal dumping was almost 10 times that of waste collected from bins. In 2016 just 383 tonnes of waste was collected from 675 bins. In 2015 this number was 400 tonnes.
The Tymon North councillor said he believed the issue wouldn’t be solved by increasing the number of bins. Cllr Duff said: “Increasing the number of bins can be counter-productive. This is evident in bottle banks being used as regular bins and overflowing.”
The 2016 council report showed a decrease in fines for littering from the previous year – in 2016 there were 3,850 complaints investigated but only 434 fines were issued, resulting in 56 court appearances.
The number of complaints investigated was lower in 2015 (3,321), but the number of fines issued was higher at 479 fines issued resulting in 96 court appearances.
Cllr Duff attributed this drop to illegal dumpers wising up and taking more precautions about not being caught: “The people that do this are determined. They’re being more careful to not leave anything that’s traceable in their rubbish – a letter or a document.”
Cllr Duff said the solution was to install more CCTV in dumping black spots to catch people.
The council reported: “Environmental monitoring initiatives, including Litter/ Waste CCTV and Program-mable Audio Devices to help combat graffiti, litter, illegal dumping and dog fouling installed in various locations which resulted in an average reduction of 82.5 per cent in illegal dumping occurrences.”
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