Wednesday, February 18, 2015

MOTION NO. 2

MOTION: Councillor F. Timmons

That this Committee calls on SDCC to present a report on Recycling bottle and can banks in Clondalkin and to look at placing them at Woodford shops , Bawnogue shopping centre and Neilstown Shopping Centre. This motion also calls for a media campaign for residents to recycle.

REPORT:

The Council currently has recycling bring banks in place at Quarryvale Community Centre, The Mill Shopping Centre, Bawnogue Community and Enterprise Centre and at 3 locations in Corkagh Park.  The Council’s recycling strategy contains an objective that every home in the County should be within 1km of a bring site.  While it is felt that this objective is for the most part being achieved at present within the County, it has for some time been an aim of this Council and the elected members in the Clondalkin area to provide additional recycling facilities in North Clondalkin.  With regard to the specific locations mentioned the following should be noted :

The Council previously had a recycling bring site in the car park of the Bawnogue Shopping Centre however this was removed a number of years ago at the request of the landowners due to associated anti-social behaviour.  This site was subsequently replaced by the site across the road at the Bawnogue Community and Enterprise Centre and this site remains operational today.  It is not proposed to revisit the Bawnogue Shopping Centre site at this time.

The other locations proposed, Woodford Shopping Centre and Neilstown Shopping Centre, have been assessed in the past for suitability for the siting of bring banks and both sites were deemed unsuitable due to lack of available space.  Nevertheless the Council is prepared to request permission from the landowners for the siting of bring banks at both these locations for a trial period to determine if they are workable.  It should be noted that it will only be possible to run such trials with the permission of the landowners in each case, and in both cases it may also be necessary to carry out a public consultation process due to the proximity of nearby housing.  The Council will also seek permission from Lidl for the placing of recycling bring banks in the car park of their premises on the Nangor Road.

With regard to the promotion of recycling through the media, the Council’s Environmental Awareness Section carries out recycling initiatives on an ongoing basis with all sectors and will continue to do so.  Examples of some of the initiatives carried out are as follows:

  • A Christmas recycling campaign – which placed a recycling information advert in the echo, used social media, provided workshops for schools and had a competition.  During the Christmas campaign Christmas environmental/recycling topics were tweeted each day and the advertised competitions placed on the website and social media.
  • Eco Week – a week long festival celebrating environmental awareness, which includes recycling, through workshops, seminars, events etc .
  • The Green schools education programme – which covers recycling, part of which is community outreach on behalf of the school. 
  • WEEE collections/recycling days – promoted by WEEE Ireland and SDCC.
  • Household WEEE collections carried out by CCRI and promoted by a leaflet drop in the relevant area.