MORE than one in three households in Limerick do not have a regular bin collection, Limerick City and County Council members were told this week.
A report to the council on litter management showed that there were 3,262 complaints to the council about litter and dumping in 2016 and 474 on-the-spot fines issued bringing €22,875 in income into the council.
35 cases were prosecuted through the courts for dumping.
Cllr Paul Keller (Solidarity) said the report was an eye opener
“35 per cent of the people in this town do not have a proper bin service coming to their door – how many people cannot afford this service? This seems quite high – what are the council doing about it?” he asked.
Cllr John Sheehan (FG) said there are “people fly tipping all over. We have Tidy Town groups breaking their rear ends trying to pick up after them. There is major dumping in forestry and roads,” he said.
“We have identified waste being dumped, names have appeared on documentation but for some reason the legislation behind it all is very poor. The person who finds litter is not prepared to be a whistleblower. The ordinary people out there don’t want the wrath of these people who dump down on top of them”.
Cllr Richard Butler (FG) said that there are “people who don’t have any respect for the environment”.
Acknowledging the work being done by the local authority inspectors, he said “there are also commercial enterprises out there who make no effort to keep their premises tidy,” adding the number of people without a bin collection is “disappointing”.
Cllr Mike Donegan (FF) said that when people are caught and convicted of littering “they should be named and shamed”.
He added that contributing to the problem was the fact that “on waste collection day, there are a lot of bins overflowing on the streets. There should be a clampdown on that”.
Cllr Elanora Hogan (FG) said that “contact should be made with refuse companies asking them to educated their customers as to what can be recycled as this is adding to the waste problem”.
Metropolitan Director of Services, Kieran Lehane said that a “surprisingly high rate of people are not availing of the bin services.
“There are certain roads where large bin lorries find it impossible to collect”.
He added that as people’s needs change, some find it more efficient to bring their waste to a transfer station as needed.
He said that the council has five litter wardens and a budget is €3.3 million across the city and county for dealing with waste and litter.
“Considerable effort has gone into educating people to recycle over the years but we will continue in that endeavour,” he added.
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