By Alan Healy
Derry's council has urged people from across the border to use recycling facilities ‘in their own jurisdiction’ when disposing of waste.
It comes after concerns were raised earlier this year over the number of southern registered cars
cars spotted at recycling centres within the Derry area.
Patsy Kelly, an independent councillor sitting on Derry City and Strabane District Council had claimed that ’30 to 40 per cent’ of vehicles using the recycling centre were from across the border.
Vehicle number plate recognition software has been installed at recycling centres across the council’s waste facilities allowing it to capture information relating to who uses the site and how frequently.
A report was then brought back to council which showed that 12 per cent of the vehicles using the Pennyburn recycling centre were from across the border, which was 1,442 cars out of a total of 9,934.
The report also showed the same result, 12 per cent, for the Brandywell recycling facility, where, out of 9,998 recorded vehicles, 1,290 were from the Republic of Ireland.
Meanwhile, the same report showed that only one percent of the vehicles using the council’s civic amenity site at the Glendermott Road were from across the border, with 189 southern registered vehicles recorded amongst the 9,995 vehicles which accessed the site.
In a statement issued to the Derry News earlier this week, a spokesperson for Derry City and Strabane District Council said that the council was aware that ‘cross-border waste’ was being brought to its recycling centres.
The spokesperson added that this was being reviewed on an ongoing basis to ensure that the amount of waste being brought to local recycling centres from across the border was ‘manageable’.
“Council is aware of some cross-border waste being brought to centres by members of the public and our recycling centres are specially designed to handle the capacity of waste which passes through daily,” the spokesperson said.
“We review this on an ongoing basis to ensure the volume is manageable and does not detract from the services and resources available to regular users.”
The spokesperson added: “We would remind people from Republic of Ireland that where possible they should use services and facilities in their own jurisdiction.
“We work closely with our colleagues in Donegal County Council to encourage the responsible disposal of waste, to reinforce the recycling message, and to tackle illegal dumping on both sides of the border.”
Commenting, the independent councillor Sean Carr said that it was better that people were using the council’s sites than illegal dumping rubbish on back roads.
“Concerns had been raised about this, but the report showed us that the figure was much smaller than had been originally claimed,” he said.
“As long as council can cope with the current levels, then I don’t see a problem, because it’s better than seeing bags of rubbish being left at the back roads by fly-tippers.”
Recycle, please
The Council spokesperson added that they were advising all users of their recycling sites to sort through rubbish in advance of their visit to ensure that recyclable materials are appropriately disposed of in order to reach government waste targets, which is 50 per cent by 2020.
“This is in keeping with Council’s ongoing campaign to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill, and measures include recycling attendants advising the public regarding the disposal of their waste and encouraging them to sort through their waste and dispose of recycling materials in the appropriate containers,” the spokesperson continued.
“While many people are stepping up their efforts to recycle more, Council is still experiencing problems with the level of contamination of blue bin contents.
“We would like to take the opportunity to remind the public that a full list of recyclables is available on the Council’s website and we would encourage everyone to get into the practice of disposing of their rubbish responsibly and sorting their rubbish before bringing it to recycling centres.”
For more information see, http://www.derrystrabane.com/service/wasterecycling
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