SDCC to consider rolling out 400 Big Belly solar bins across county

South Dublin County Council is considering rolling out 400 solar powered Big Belly bins across the county for the cost of €2.5 million.

In a response to a question posed by Independent councillor Francis Timmons, SDCC said that replacing the standard on-street bins with the Big Belly bins would cost in the region of €2.5 million but would also accrue annual savings of €180,000.

South Dublin County Council says it ran a pilot programme in 2019 which introduced the solar bins for a trial period.

“The trial commenced in November 2019 and concluded in April 2020, with reports on the outcome of the trial presented to the May and September meetings of the SPC during 2020,” it said.

SDCC says that the trial included the introduction of 70 Big Belly units in village centre locations which cost €420,000.

“A project to replace all existing litter bins across the county, at a rate of one solar bin replacing two standard bins, would cost in the region of €2.5m.

“The figures presented in the reports to the SPC indicate that savings could be achieved through improved management of the service made possible by the smart technology.”

It also said that due to the smart technology, the bins would only need to be serviced when needed, rather than the daily servicing of the standard street bins that are currently carried out.

This would save money and time, the council says.

“The savings would come in the form of reduced labour and machinery costs arising from the reduction in the number of operatives and vehicles required to provide the service, and also savings in the form of reduced fuel costs arising from the flexible and responsive nature of the service.

“The following guideline figures can be provided at this time, however a full cost benefit analysis is being prepared at the present time for further consideration.”