Clearing the Way: Making Space for Waste in Ireland’s Historic City Centres
KEO’s work with Limerick City & County Council explores how coordinated collection and practical storage solutions can help historic city centres keep their streets clear.
Walk through almost any historic city and the challenge is familiar. Buildings and streets shaped for a different era must now contend with multiple waste streams, containers and collection vehicles jostling for limited space.
Ireland’s household waste collection model adds complexity. Services are provided almost entirely by private companies competing side by side. In Limerick city centre, that means most household and commercial waste is collected by four main operators, and more than 15 private contractors work across the wider county. They share the same narrow streets, sometimes collecting on different days and sometimes on the same one. In an online survey carried out as part of a recent review for Limerick City & County Council, half of city-centre residents and businesses who responded said they regularly see multiple waste trucks on their street in a single day.
Many historic properties have little space to store waste, so bins often remain on the street for long periods. In the same survey, 61% of respondents rated bins left permanently on streets or pavements as a very significant issue, and 59% said the same about litter, vermin or odour.
Looking at the system as a whole
The review, carried out with collection operators, residents and businesses, looked at how waste storage and collection in the city centre fit together and where intervention could have most effect. It recommended a mix of regulatory, operational, infrastructure and behavioural measures:
updating Limerick’s Waste Bye-Laws to better regulate collection days, times and how waste is presented
clearer requirements for storing waste outside collection periods
stronger enforcement to support compliance
public engagement and education on the updated requirements
trials of shared storage where property-level storage isn’t feasible
The value lies in how these measures work together. Shared storage gives properties without space a way to meet the new requirements, while clear rules, consistent enforcement and public engagement help residents, businesses and operators understand what is expected of them and act on it.
What this means for other Irish councils
Historic centres across Ireland share Limerick’s narrow streets, limited storage and private-operator model, so its review points to three lessons other councils can apply.
First, look at collection across all operators. The problems residents notice, such as bins left out and multiple trucks on one street in a day, come from the combined activity of several companies, so they need to be addressed at that level.
Second, pair storage requirements with a practical way to comply. Where properties cannot store waste, the Limerick review recommended trialling shared storage alongside the updated rules.
Third, plan waste as part of regeneration. As Irish cities invest in public realm improvements, waste storage and collection need to be considered as part of the wider urban system from the outset.
KEO supported the Limerick review, including the stakeholder engagement and city-centre survey. To discuss waste planning for your town or city, contact Edward Wilkins, Senior Project Engineer.
Meet the Author
Edward Wilkins, Senior Project Engineer
KEO's Sustainability + Environment Division
