People living on Dublin’s southside will now have specific bins for their pizza boxes, after a public consultation revealed this bulky packaging was clogging up regular public bins.
Two bins, specifically for pizza boxes, have been opened today in Dalkey and Blackrock respectively as part of a trial project, the first in the country.
Una Power, cathaoirleach of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council, said they had been having issues with pizza boxes blocking up the normal bins, particularly the Big Belly bins. “Half the time, the bins were not full but they were blocked up by one of these boxes,” said Ms Power.
The pizza box bins have been specifically designed and they are a different shape to the traditional Big Belly bins. “They are like a big letterbox . . . [Their openings are] exactly the size of a pizza box, so other things can’t be squished in. I used one myself today and it worked perfectly,” said Ms Power.
She said Blackrock and Dalkey were chosen for the trials because there were takeaways that serve pizza in both locations. “They have been doing a lot more walk-in, walk-out trade, particularly during the pandemic. So, we picked those two points as we identified them as [problem] areas.”
Ms Power added that if this trial works, the council would be happy to roll out the bins to other areas.
When asked about the lack of dog poo bins, which is often cited as a concern, Ms Power said that every local representative in Ireland is eager to solve the issue of dog fouling, but the pizza box bins were needed as pizza boxes were causing a significant problem in the locality.
“These bins were identified as an issue as they were becoming blocked so that’s why we have trialled this initiative . . . if a public suggestion came in about solving dog fouling, we would be happy to trial it.”
The pizza bins are one of the first dlrBETA projects, in which Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown locals can make submissions to the council about small-scale public realm improvements.
If you would like to get involved or have an idea for the area, visit dlrBETA.ie for further information.