The Problem
Bags on Dublin City Streets every night
Bags of rubbish are left on the streets of Dublin City every evening after 5pm. They are generated by people living or working in premises with no room for conventional bins.
These bags are collected anytime before 4am the following morning.
In the time between when the bags are left out and then collected, seagulls, foxes, cats, dogs and rats, all get a turn at the bags, frequently tearing them apart and spreading the contents as loose litter on the streets.
They are a real trip hazard for all.
And they never make a pretty sight!
Dublin City Council went out to tender in December 2020 looking for a viable solution to the problem of bags of rubbish left on the streets for collection.
They selected BagBin as the solution with the most potential and ran a trial between October 2021 and April 2022 on some Dublin streets to determine if this option is a solution which could be rolled out throughout the city.
BagBins are only 20mm thick when flattened so they can be stored easily in a minimum of space and deployed on the street to hold bags securely until they are collected.
BagBins are collapsible enclosures that protect bags of waster left on the streets from being ripped apart by seagulls, cats, dogs and vermin.
Open the lid of the BagBin and put your bags of rubbish inside.
The BagBins are placed at the edge of the road, ready for the waste collector.
When the waste collector arrives he simply lifts the Bagbin up to access the bags and remove them (BagBins do not have any bottom). closes it flat and leaves it. The BagBin is left ready for you to take inside the following morning.
A trial with BagBins ran from October 2021 until April 2022.
A number of merchants in the vicinity of Drury Street and Castle Market who regularly present bags of rubbish on the street agreed to partake in the trial.
A number of waste collectors also agreed to participate.
The merchants brought their bags of waste to a Bagbin station and used their designated key to unlock and release a fresh Bagbin. They relocked the Bagbin station, securing the remaining BagBins, and deployed the one they took out, depositing their bags of waste inside and closing the lid.
This has yet to be determined.
Yes, and probably a bit smaller.
The Bagbin measures 970mm high x 900mm wide and 20mm thick when stored.
The BagBin comes in 2 sizes: 270 litres (3-4 bag capacity) and 170 litres (2-3 bag capacity). A household wheelie bin is 240 litres.
Anywhere between 2 and 6 bags, depending on how full they are and how tightly they are packed into the BagBin.
The Bagbins are designed and manufactured in Ireland.
Very strong. They are made from Polypropylene, which is very hard to cut or damage without cutting tools, grinder or the like.
The company was founded in 1994 as a Development, Manufacturing and Consultancy company by husband and wife John & Mena Dunne. The company also engages in consultancy work primarily in the waste sector.
Products developed and manufactured range from household items such as pot stands, plate racks, mug trees and a whole range of homeware products, to a 3D board game (4tecgame.com) and a golf putting aid device (puttie.com).
Bagbin is the latest product the company has developed and it is into its second year of the Patent Application process with the BagBin design and expects to be granted full Patents in many countries in the coming months.