Agenda item

            The Committee considered the following report:

“1.0     Purpose of Report/Summary of Main Issues

1.1            To update members on the litter bin infrastructure review and improvement project.

2.0       Recommendation

2.1       Members are asked to note:

(a)        the update on the street litter bin improvement projects.

(b)        that a report will be brought back to the committee on the outworkings of the various pilot initiatives (Dog Fouling bin options & smart technology option for City Hall) detailed within this report, with recommendations for next steps.

3.0       Main Report

3.1       Over the past year Officers have been working to improve our street litter bin provision across the City, including rolling out pilot initiatives aimed at improving recycling. As part of this work, Officers have put in place a new litter bin provision contract which provides the Council with a wider range of options for bin provision, including access to replacement metal litter bins, a single and double polyethylene option, recycling options, replacement provision for greenways, and a post mounted option. Within the contract, the Council also reserved the right to ‘add or remove items from the Contract in line with the Council’s requirements. Following a procurement exercise, Safety Solutions NI were successful and were awarded the contract which has been operational since May 2024.

3.2       Alongside this, Officers have been conducting a litter bin condition survey. It is hoped that data collected through this will help to inform the roll out of a full litter bin replacement programme, subject to resources being available. This programme will also consider the best options for litter bin placement throughout the city and has been designed to support the new In Cab technology programme. Officers aim to complete this survey by the end of the financial year, subject to resource availability. Final data will include a GPS map of all litter bins within the city.

3.3       Members will be aware that many of our current street litter bins are either in a poor state of repair, or have been completely removed due to having become a health and safety risk. In the first instance, the Council will prioritise replacement of those bins that have been removed due to having become a health and safety hazard.

3.4       Following that, those bins that are in a very poor state of repair will be replaced. Requests for new bin placement will be considered but will be subject to operational considerations and resource availability. 

3.5       In an effort to try to minimise waste and extend the life of all of our litter bins, Officers are hoping to put in place a dedicated operational team that would have responsibility for city wide litter bin maintenance. This, along with a proposed bin replacement budget enhancement, has been submitted for consideration as part of a service growth proposal.

3.6       Litter Bin Pilot Initiatives:

(a)        Dog Fouling Waste Bins: Members had asked Officers to considering a pilot initiative aimed at tackling Dog fouling through the provision of specific dog waste bin options. Prior to roll out, officers are undertaking a benchmarking exercise looking at best practise and operations within other Councils. A paper will be brought back to a future committee to consider the outworkings of this work, proposal areas to be included and next steps.

(b)        Smart Technology (BigBelly) Bins: Members will have noticed that some of our traditional black metal litter bins within the grounds of city hall have been replaced with new smart technology (Bigbelly) litter bins. These bins have been installed free of charge, including maintenance, for a trial period. One general waste bin was installed within the grounds of City Hall, and  a double being (general waster plus recycling) installed at Cathedral gardens, with the. Photos below of bins in situ.

3.7       Benefits of Big Belly Bins and the smart technology include the elimination of windblown litter. This, along with seagulls removing litter from bins, has been an issue for some time at City Hall. They will also help to reduce collections as bins communicate ready-to-collect status and can hold 5x the capacity for traditional litter bin. Smarts and added capacity can reduce collections by over 80%. The fully enclosed bin eliminates a major food source for rats and other pests. This will be particularly welcome during the Christmas Market period. As well as these operational benefits the bins aim to enhance public space recycling options, reduced GHG Emission due to fewer collections reducing fuel consumption and GHG emissions. Crucially, these bins have great potential advertising / data revenue source which would make them a more viable option for appropriate spaces longer term.

3.8       Officers plan to extend the pilot to include a further eight bins installed with the grounds of city hall in time for the start of the Christmas market set up.

Financial and Resource Implications

3.9       There are no financial or resource implications within this report. All actions to date have been covered within existing service revenue budgets.

Equality or Good Relations Implications /

Rural Needs Assessment

3.10     There are no Equality or Good Relations Implications /Rural Needs Assessments associated with this report.”

            The Committee adopted the recommendation as set out in section 2.1 of the report.