The days of Dubliners leaving their waste out for collection in plastic bin bags will come to an end within the next two years, the city council has promised. 

Although the vast majority of Irish households use bins to dispose of their waste, some parts of the capital’s inner city continue to use plastic bags. 

The reason for that is many small terraced houses and apartments lack the space for bins and have been exempted from the requirement to use them. 

Yesterday, Irish Business Against Litter revealed in their annual ranking that Dublin’s north inner city is the most littered part of the country - a fact that is widely blamed on the continued use of plastic bags for waste collection. 

On Newstalk Breakfast, Dublin City Council spokesperson Derek Kelly admitted the  north inner city “has issues” but insisted that “all cities struggle with littering”. 

“It’s not just the north inner city, there are other areas and other areas of the country that have similar issues,” he said. 

“What we need to be conscious of is, the public have to do their part too. 

“The city council is putting significant resources into trying to improve the visual amenity of the city and tackle littering. 

“We’ve recruited over 100 additional staff in the last 12 months to improve our operations. 

“We’re investing significant sums in a new, modern fleet which helps us wash and scrub over 27km a week of our city pavements - so, when people come into work in the morning, the city is as clean as it can be.” 

Rubbish dumped on Dalymount Lane in Phibsborough. Picture by: RollingNews.

Mr Kelly continued that the city council does “have a plan” to get rid of plastic bags, but added that it was not an “easy task”. 

“We are just ready to go on a pilot area off Grafton Street - there are 90 streets around Grafton Street,” he said. 

“We have all the arrangements in place; we have two waste compactors that we placed at two strategic locations in that area.

“Customers of the private collectors will have a number of options for disposing of their waste. 

“We do intend to move that throughout the city; we have an equally sized area in the north city, covering Henry Street, O’Connell Street, Abbey Street and the surrounds. 

“Then we’ll be moving further out into the suburbs and urban villages.” 

Swans looking for food among the litter and rubbish pollution at the river at the Grand Canal Docks in Dublin. Picture by: Sasko Lazarov/RollingNews

However long the rollout takes, Mr Kelly promised the days of plastic bags on the streets of Dublin are numbered. 

“We’re all in agreement that the days of plastic bag presentation are ending,” he said. 

“And it will be gone within the next 18 to 24 months.”

Main image: A seagull trying to get into a plastic rubbish bag. Picture by: Mark Walker / Alamy.