Battle banks to go too?

Call for Deposit Return Scheme to be extended for glass

Tipperary Co Council has been asked to centralise its bottle banks as well as clothes banks at its civic amenity sites.

The council is pressing ahead with its previously announced plan of removing its second-hand clothes banks, which are proving too costly to operate and have become sites used to dump rubbish. There have also been issues with the frequency of the collection of materials from the council’s suite of clothes banks.

Clothing collection is therefore to be centralised at the county’s five civic amenity sites in Nenagh, Roscrea, Clonmel, Donohill (Tipperary) and Waller’s Lot (Cashel).

But last week’s meeting of the council heard suggestions that the council’s bottle banks should follow suit. Cllr David Dunne said the bottle banks are also attracting rubbish. The council has to burden the cost of maintaining the sites. He suggested that they should be centralised at the amenity centres along with the clothes banks.

Several speakers were in agreement, including Cllr Michael O’Meara, who said most of the bottle banks in villages are not being used. The sites are therefore not being maintained. He suggested that the council should carry out an audit of bottle banks and their level of usage, but that in any case the successful Deposit Return Scheme should be extended to include glass as well as plastic bottles and aluminium cans.

Cllrs Siobhán Ambrose and Richie Molloy said people would need to be able to return bottles and cans in bulk rather than singly, a practice that has led to queues at popular return outlets. Cllr Molloy said he would be reluctant to remove the bottle banks and suggested that CCTV camera surveillance should be used to catch perpetrators of illegal dumping.

Cllr Máirín McGrath thought it would be “madness” to get rid of a longstanding council service and to expect people to bring their bottles to the civic amenity centres which, she pointed out, would be a long drive for many.

‘FAST FASHION’

She reiterated her concern over the council’s intention to remove the clothes banks, something she feared would lead to a return of “rogue operators” and increased illegal dumping.

Cllr Ambrose hit out at the rise of “fast fashion” and people dumping poor quality clothes, sometimes after only one wear. But she too was concerned about the council’s plan and wondered whether private providers of clothes banks might increase their provision.

Cllr Mark Fitzgerald said the council should do everything it could to discourage “fast fashion”. He was wearing the same pair of shoes he’d had for the last three years; people should be encouraged to invest in long-lasting quality clothing, he said.

Cllr Pat English observed that the council collected 275 tonnes of textiles up to July of this year. People need somewhere to bring their old and unwanted clothes, and he also feared repercussions with the removal of the banks.

Cllr Liam Browne said people in general are not aware that the council is withdrawing clothes banks. He warned that people are now likely to leave their old clothes at the botte bank sites.

MATRESS AMNESTY

Cllr Fiona Bonfield made the point that much of the rubbish dumped in the countryside is not household waste but bulky items, such as mattresses and appliances. She welcomed the council’s mattress amnesty last June and July, which saw some 1,075 mattresses recycled at the five civic amenity sites.

Director of Services Eamon Lonergan said the council is going to tender for the removal of the clothes banks, and this would be happening in the next couple of months. He pointed out that this action has been highlighted several times this year in the local media. The council would be flagging it again closer to the time of the removal, and he encouraged local councillors to do all they could to inform their respective communities.

Regarding bottle banks, Mr Lonergan said there is no proposal to remove them but the council is responsible for maintaining the sites and does incur costs in their cleanup. The use of CCTV would help to deter litter offenders.

Mr Lonergan agreed that the Deposit Return Scheme has proven successful and said the expansion of that service, including a multi-feed feature for the receptacles, is a national rollout issue.