Bonfire concerns lead to innovative waste exercise
BALLYBUNION BINS ‘BULKY’ ITEMS TO RESTRICT FIRE FUEL FOR HALLOWEEN
CONCERNS over bonfires raging out of control at Halloween sparked an innovative campaign seeing large household waste items binned and taken out of circulation as possible bonfire fuel.
The pilot bulky waste recycling schene saw residents of the Marconi Avenue in Ballybunion getting rid of large unwanted items from furniture to appliances in the course of a single day last week.
Kerry County Council facilitated the event and reported a significant uptake among residents - with two 40 cubic yard containers largely filled.
“Residents of the Marconi Avenue area in Ballybunion participated in a pilot bulky waste recycling event recently where they were invited to dispose of bulky household goods in a waste container provided by Kerry County Council. The initiative was organised to help householders get rid of large waste items in an environmentally safe manner and to raise awareness about the hazards of bulky household waste being used as fuel for bonfires over the Halloween period,” a spokesperson for the County Council said.
The event was held on the back of concerns over the increasingly large Halloween bonfires witnessed in the estate.
“In 2016, Marconi Avenue was one of many housing estates in Kerry where a bonfire celebrating Halloween was held,” Kerry County Council said.
“Concerned residents of the estate contacted Kerry County Council to see if there was anything that could be done to prevent future bonfires during which large waste items were set alight. The Environment Section of the council successfully secured funding in Sep- tember from the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment to host a Bulky Waste Collection event under Phase II of the Anti-Dumping Initiative. The event was a great success involving the co-operation of the Marconi Avenue Area householders, Ballybunion Tidy Towns, the Environment Section, Housing Section and Listowel Municipal District Operations of Kerry County Council and John Higgins Waste and Recycling. Many elderly residents in particular were assisted in removing large bulky items from their homes... with two large 40 cubic yard containers of waste taken away for recycling and disposal.”