Litter Scheme
Iveragh

Litter Scheme

In 2006 it became clear that there was a significant problem in the area in terms of litter and waste management. There was a lot of illegal dumping as well as the common habit of burning household rubbish. Not all areas of the area are served by a refuse collection service and there was an important gap to fill.

The Comhchoiste Ghaeltacht Uíbh Ráthaigh contacted the environmental section of KCC and following numerous meetings, discussions and compensation the Iveragh Litter Scheme was established as a joint venture between 5 local communities led by the Comhchoiste - Ballinskelligs, Caherdaniel, Waterville, Dromid and the Kells.

The scheme went live on 03/04/2006 and since then the scheme has been very successful. The first summer was much busier than we expected and we had to bring in a second employee under the Rural Social Scheme to help run the initiative. In 2010 the Federal people came on board, in 2013 the scheme started operating in the Glen and the scheme is now fully underway in these seven communities.

KWD Recycling now operates the collection service

Bags and bags for recycling are on sale from the Community Centres and local shops in Waterville, Glin, Kells, Caherdaniel and Sneem.

The price of the various bags for this scheme is falling from 01.05.12:

• Clear Recycling Bags - Green Recycling Bags € 3 (down from € 3.50)

• Brown waste bags - Brown residual waste bags € 5 (down from € 7)

• Small brown bags - small brown residual bags € 3 (down from € 4)

All service users are encouraged to purchase their bags in the local shops near to where the bins are located. This is vital to the viability of the scheme. It is the local committee which benefits from the scheme and any profits generated are used for local projects. Each local committee pays KWD per lift of the bins therefore it is vital that the bags are purchased locally.