New bins in Limerick aimed at students 'who buy a lot of pizza'

LIMERICK City and County Council have introduced special bins for pizza boxes outside a nightclub near the Milk Market.

A waste receptacle has been placed outside the Black Rabbit club at Carr Street in the city centre.

With a wide rectangle hole, it is designed only to be used to deposit used pizza boxes.

Council’s director of service in the metropolitan district Kieran Lehane said it is aimed particularly at the population of youngsters attending local colleges.

READ MORE: Polliconnect Project in full bloom across Limerick communities

“When the students are in town - and it’s wonderful that students are in town - they buy a lot of pizza,” Mr Lehane told members at the monthly metropolitan meeting.

Elsewhere, one councillor has said business owners need to be given an ultimatum on the parklets, installed in 2020 to facilitate outdoor distancing during the Covid-19 pandemic .

“Use them or lose them,” said Cllr Olivia O’Sullivan, Fine Gael.

Mr Lehane said: “The understanding was the businesses would maintain them. Sadly, that has not been the case and a lot of them are smoking areas, which will be marked down by Ibal (the Irish Business Against Litter group). We are beginning to talk to premises about them to see what we can do to improve them. They are four or five years old at this stage, and some of them are in very poor condition. Some of them are actually falling because of the damp climate,” he said.

There was a mixed response from councillors on the parklets.

Labour’s Joe Leddin described their condition now as “unsightly, weather-beaten and war-torn”.

As a result of that, he said litter gets caught underneath them.

But Cllr Elisa O’Donovan of the Social Democrats said: “It would be a shame to remove them. I think they could be used to green the city - to put greenery around the city. Or perhaps we could create a fund to help the businesses or communities that live around there to use it as a neighbourhood meeting spot. There is a worth to them.”

Cllr Sarah Kiely, Fine Gael, said if they are kept, terms and conditions should be put in place.