Dublin City Council has deferred the roll-out of its “bag free” street rubbish collection project in the north inner city until October.
The areas affected include Stoneybatter, Broadstone and parts of Phibsborough.
The ban on the use of bags has already been rolled out in other parts of the city. Residents and businesses are no longer able to present plastic refuse sacks for collection and must use new waste compactors located at “hubs” throughout the city.
Alternatively, they can make their own arrangements with private waste collection companies.
RM Block
The city council said it had deferred the ban in the “phase-three area only” to facilitate “further community engagement and to offer further clarification on the waste storage options being offered by the private waste collectors and the rationale for the project”.
Phase one of the ban was introduced late last year in the southside of the city across some 90 streets including Grafton Street, the Temple Bar area and St Stephen’s Green.
The council said phase one “removes roughly 1,000 plastic bags a day and reduces illegal dumping by about 20 tonnes per month.”
[ Bin bag ban hits Dublin’s north inner city as area seeks to dump ‘dirty’ imageOpens in new window ]
Phase two was launched in Dublin’s northside in May 2026, extending the ban to 110 northside streets covering the Church Street to Gardiner Street areas.
The new waste compactors are being installed in association with private waste operators.
Compactors are located at hubs including Marlborough Place, Loftus Lane and Fownes Street Upper and can crush up to 4.5 tons of waste down to a quarter of its volume. They also feature separate sections for general waste and dry recyclables.
On streets where compactors are not available, the council has asked private waste companies to phase out bags in favour of standard wheelie bins or compact, stackable caddie systems about the size of one domestic waste bag for homes with minimal storage space.
However, the project has run into significant resistance in the Stoneybatter, Broadstone and Phibsborough areas.
Local TD Gary Gannon described the changes as akin to privatisation. He recently raised the issue in the Dáil and on social media posts claiming leaflets “came through doors from private operators with no consultation with residents”.
Gannon said there was “no consideration of the fact that so many of these are 100-year-old terraced streets with no room for large bins”.
He said: “The privatisation of Dublin’s waste collection has not worked. I’ll continue to raise this until we get the right outcome for residents.”
