DCC suggested limiting access to Deposit Return Scheme to reduce bin scavenging
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What proposal did Dublin City Council suggest to limit bin scavenging?
Dublin City Council suggested limiting access to the deposit return scheme to people with registered domestic waste collection contracts in an effort to reduce opportunistic bin scavenging. The proposal was part of an internal briefing note for Dublin City Council CEO Richard Shakespeare. in advance of a meeting in February with the CEO of Return, Ciarán Foley. The documents, which were obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by journalist Dara McDonagh, outlined how public bins were being interfered with and damaged on a daily basis, with rubbish being removed and scattered on footpaths. To discuss this, I'm joined by Michael Pidgeon, Green Party Councillor on Dublin City Council, also by Vincent Jennings, CEO of the Convenience Stores and News Agents Association.
Good morning to you both, Michael. This would have prevented, if this proposal had been adopted, would have prevented anyone without a household bin collection service from reclaiming deposits on bottles and cans. Is this a good idea?
This is very much not a good idea. It's a bit of a daft, mad idea. And I think, in fairness, the journalists who found this got it through a Freedom of Information request. I don't think it would have gone any further than an internal briefing memo where I suspect someone was just trying to come up with any ideas whatsoever to combat this. Because we do see it as an issue, but it just obviously wouldn't work. Like a lot of people in apartments wouldn't have a separate waste contract. It would just be all done collectively. A tourist wouldn't have a waste contract in Dublin. And it would also, if for some reason you wanted to beat this system, which will never happen, you could very easily just photocopy a receipt from Greyhound.
You know, it seems like a very... it's not an idea that I think anyone's going to take seriously. I suspect it's probably someone coming up with as many ideas as possible, but this will not see the light of day.
Okay, but there was a reason for coming up with the idea, which is, as you've said, you see it every day.
Absolutely, you do see. And in fairness, there are some people who you see scavenging for stuff in bins and they do it kind of reasonably tidily, I would have thought. It's a tragic thing to see in some ways that people are driven to that. But then there are also issues, particularly I think late at night or early in the morning, where whole bins are being kind of ripped out And the litter is there. Now, that's frustrating because the deposit return scheme has like visibly and measurably reduced litter from bottles and cans all across the country, particularly in the city. Parts of the north inner city, which were like litter black spots and always at the top of the table, have seen huge reductions.
But it's frustrating that one of the consequences of it is this, this thing.
It is a consequence. It's an unforeseen consequence. But should it have been foreseen, maybe?
I think we always knew from... Deposit return schemes have been around for a long time in a lot of other countries. Some countries do it for glass. I used to live in Belgium. That was an issue there. I think in some ways you just have to try and see what kind of measures can work. One of the things they've tried was putting a ring around some of the bins so people could leave them in. That has apparently worked in other countries. There's other councils looking to try it. It hasn't worked in a lot of parts of Dublin. People are just leaving coffee cups and random stuff in there. So, like, there's an element of, like, we know these schemes work hugely.
Why do some believe limiting access to the deposit return scheme is a bad idea?
We know this scheme has worked. Recycling rates have gone up from under half to nearly 90%. We know that the amount of litter of cans and bottles has fallen by about half. So we know it works. We knew it worked in other countries, but there's always going to be local teething issues. And this, unfortunately, is one of them.
Okay, I want to bring in Vincent Channings, as I say, CEO of the Convenience Stores and News Agents Association.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What proposal did Dublin City Council suggest to limit bin scavenging?
0:00–2:55
2
Why do some believe limiting access to the deposit return scheme is a bad idea?
2:55–6:31
3
How does scavenging impact Dublin's public bins?
6:31–9:04
4
What are the unforeseen consequences of the deposit return scheme?
9:04–10:31
5
How do other countries handle deposit return schemes differently?
10:31–11:29