Piles of bin bags on the streets of Dublin should become a thing of the past with the rollout of a new collapsible bin to house plastic rubbish bags.
The developers of the device say it should be available to all households and businesses in the Dublin City Council area by the end of next year.
Dublin City Council said the move will allow street cleaning services, that once had to deal with the mess created by burst plastic bags, to be deployed to general street cleaning.
The Bagbin is a flexible piece of plastic with built in hinges that transforms from a flat rectangle to a cylinder shape in just a few seconds.
Plastic rubbish bags can then be placed inside the device, which has a lid to keep it sheltered while it awaits collection.
Waste companies lift it off the ground to release its contents before flattening the device and hanging it on a hook outside the premises it belongs to.
John Dunne, the Developer of Bagbin, said a pilot scheme in parts of the city proved extremely successful.
"It went very well over the six month period. The waste companies were really happy with it because they can identify their bins on the street without having to go rooting through them.
"When they lifted up a bag it wouldn't burst and fall down all over them. The residents of the premises were delighted because they didn't have piles of bags burst all over the street anymore. And Dublin City Council are delighted that in areas we did the trial, they were much much cleaner than heretofore."
City centre business have for the most part welcomed the rollout of the device.
Paddy Coughlan of the Designer Exchange of Exchequer Street said it will help remove piles of rubbish outside city centre premises, which he said can be an eyesore
"Before now we would have multiple bags from all the retailers along the street, generally all on the same evening. So you'd end up having piles and piles of bags outside different locations which is unsightly.
"I'm a passionate believer in Dublin city and its aesthetics and how it looks. If this is one step towards making it better and making it a better experience for locals and tourists alike then it's a good thing to me."
The introduction of the bins comes amid complaints about the levels of litter and dirt on the capital's streets.
Dublin City Council said some of this litter is due to plastic bags being torn open, mainly by animals looking for food, and it said the reduction in this kind of rubbish would allow cleaning resources, which have been extended lately, to be put to better use.
DCC Public Domain Officer Dominic Hession said: "We have additional resources deployed to power wash and our waste management services have a 24 hour presence in the city centre.
"But when the crowds go home, the animals come out and they can cause a terrible mess. So this initiative should resolve that. They'll protect the bins until the collective by the waste operators.
"The less waste that we find that the streets in the morning as a result of animal interference with the bags, that means that the resources can be deployed to keep the streets clean or in general," he said.
The first phase of the rollout will see containers being deployed on five streets in Dublin's south city centre, Grafton Street, South William Street, Exchequer Street, Drury Street and Castlemarket Street.
It is hoped they will be extended to all business and homes using plastic bags the end of next year.
