A ban on commercial premises leaving their waste out in plastic bags in Dublin’s south city centre has fully come into effect.
The changes, which were announced last September, covers 90 streets in the south city centre around the Grafton Street and Temple Bar areas.
The Head of Waste Management with Dublin City Council said at the time that the use of plastic bags to dispose of commercial waste was causing significant litter problems due to bags being pulled open by vermin and seagulls
Barry Woods also said that since the introduction of the RETURN scheme, members of the public opening bags looking for cans and plastic bottles had become a significant for those trying to keep the city scheme.
The council said it was one of a number of changes to help clean up Dublin city and was in response to the increasing activity and footfall in the area.
The changes are part of a review of a 2016 decision to designate around 1,000 streets in the capital as bag collection areas, which meant they were given a derogation to allow businesses leave their waste out for collection in plastic bags.
That derogation has now been reversed for the area stretching from the Dublin City Council Civic offices on the quays up to the Grafton Street area.
A number of other measures to improve cleanliness in the city centre were also announced last year, including the recruitment of 100 staff, an €8.5m investment in the waste departments fleet of vehicles and the appointment of extra litter wardens at night.
