Writings: Submissions by Ciarán Cuffe / Green Party

Green Party Ten Point Plan for Waste Management in Dún Laoghaire March 2005 

Reduced payment for smaller bin
All householders on the wheelie bin service should be given the choice of a 120-litre bin instead of the standard 240-litre bin. This bin should have a reduced annual charge.

Parity of charges in the Metropolitan Area
The four Dublin Local Authorities should meet under the auspices of the Dublin Regional Authority and co-ordinate a uniform charging system for the four Dublin Councils.

Change from payment in advance to billing once service received
The Council should move away from demanding payment in advance for waste charges. If the ESB did this there would be uproar! Retrospective payments are the norm for other utilities. The current system forces people into giving the local authority an interest free loan.

Better Green Bin Service
Consider a fortnightly Green Bin collection if levels of recycling remain high. Investigate the collection of plastics using the Green Bin service. All households without a Green Bin should receive two large biodegradable clear recycling bags per month.

Better information for Householders
Supply an information leaflet including a map of recycling points within each neighbourhood to every household in the County. Provide improved information online.

End the flat charge for those on bag collections
Householders that still receive a bag collection should be offered a charge per bag option rather than a flat charge of €350 a year.

More Bring Centres
The amount of Bring Centres in the county must be doubled so that most neighbourhoods have recycling within walking distance. All bring banks should be cleaned regularly, and have notices advising users not to use the bins at night-time so that adjoining residents are not disturbed. The bottle-bins should have also internal rubber straps to dampen the noise made by bottles as is commonplace in mainland Europe.

Reinstate the Dún Laoghaire Recycling Depot Full recycling facilities should be reinstated in the town of Dún Laoghaire to replace the facility that was removed when the Council sold off the site at the back of 'Iceland' off Georges Street.

Full disclosure of costs
The Council should make available a full breakdown of the costings for all aspects of their Waste Management proposals such as refuse freighter costs, and wages, including capital and current expenditure.

Enforcement and fines
Increase fines and enforcement for littering and unauthorised dumping offences.