Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council (DLRCC) announces the honour to be named Most Efficient Global Municipality as the award’s inaugural winner. This award dignifies DLRCC’s optimized performance and transformation by using the Bigbelly Smart Waste System for data-driven, smart waste management operations in their council-wide public spaces. DLRCC beat stiff competition from some of the over 500 global municipality customers across 50 countries which leverage the Bigbelly smart waste management system for their public space waste.
The Most Efficient Global Municipality award, adjudicated on the level of smart waste management efficiency gains, operational benefits, and decreased environmental impact, is the first of its kind promoted by Bigbelly, the world leader in smart waste and recycling systems featuring real-time, analytics driven software and the patented range of smart waste compactors and sensor bins.
The Council extensively trialled the Bigbelly system prior to purchasing 400 units in December 2014. Benefits of the DLRCC’s smart waste system use, as detailed in the European Commission Procurement publication in April 2015, included the following:
- The litter bin footprint was reduced from 530 litter bins to 421 Bigbelly patented solar powered compacting litter bins, however, the capacity of the system increased from approximately 45,000 litres to over 250,000 litres;
- Using Bigbelly’s web-based application called CLEAN to monitor real-time levels of waste in the compactor bins, the number of litter bins collected during a working day was reduced by over 85% which resulted in a reduction of 75% in fleet operating costs;
- 60% of collection staff was able to be re-deployed to other services within the Council.
As the bins feature an enclosed design, the Council has experienced a dramatic decrease – and in most cases elimination – of overflowing bins. As such, there has also been a significant reduction in the hours required for street sweeping and cleaning litter.
With the improvement in operational efficiencies and reduction in the fleet size, the smart waste system has also reduced DLRCC’s energy consumption as it relates to refuse vehicles by the equivalent of 85,000 kWh per annum. This in turn has resulted in reduced greenhouse gas emissions, non-renewable resources, local air pollution, and noise pollution.
Since 2015 as part of their extensive and integrated Smart City initiatives, the DLRCC leveraged the Bigbelly system as a host platform for additional smart sensor services by installing footfall sensors in the compacting units. This has enabled the council and local business community to assess this data for the success of their local improvement initiatives. The Council also leveraged the units’ valuable real estate to engage an advertising program. Local businesses have the opportunity to promote their services and the local economy while DLRCC re-invests the revenue share from the advert program back into the municipality core services.
“Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council showcases its leadership as a forward-thinking Smart City by embracing a smart waste system to optimize their waste operations while making their public spaces cleaner and more enjoyable,” said Claude LeBlond, Bigbelly VP International Business. “We are overtly impressed with their adoption of best practices and their embrace in delivering a smarter core service to the community.”
“While this smart waste and recycling system has transformed public space waste management in municipalities across the globe, the deployment we honour today is one that exemplifies the best possible application and experiences optimal benefits,” said Brian Phillips, Bigbelly President and COO. “We are honoured to have Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council as a customer who truly embraced the change that comes with a smart waste system and are grateful to be a catalyst of change in creating an optimized, more sustainable, and enhanced Council experience for today and tomorrow.
Cllr Cormac Devlin, Cathaoirleach (Mayor) of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council said: “Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council is delighted to accept the inaugural award in this prestigious international competition. It showcases the County Councils strong commitment to reduce its environmental footprint and drive tangible efficiencies in our day-to-day work process through the medium of smart, analytic driven technology. Thanks to our partnership with Bigbelly, Inc. and their Irish Distributor Kyron Street, I am delighted to say that our County is at the forefront of data-driven municipal operations. ”
Screenshot from CLEAN Management Console of the DLRCC Smart Waste Deployment – Software from which the Council determines optimized collection routine to achieve operational efficiencies.
Most Efficient Municipality inaugural award presentation ceremony surrounding one of the smart waste compacting units; from left to right: Richard Shakespeare, Director of Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council; Don Coughlan of Kyron Street Ltd. the Official Bigbelly Distribution Partner in Ireland; Claude LeBlond, VP International Business at Bigbelly; Brian Phillips, President and COO at Bigbelly.
# # #
About Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council
Situated in an enviable location between the Dublin Mountains and Dublin Bay, the county of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown has a thriving population of 218,000 with a diverse mix of nationalities, access to the major transport links in Dublin, a vibrant economic profile from large scale multinational firms to single shop artisan producers, an engaged local democracy, a wealth of recreational facilities and a beautiful and accessible natural environment in the mountains and the seashore. Discover more about the County at http://www.dlrcoco.ie/en/visiting-dlr
About Bigbelly
Bigbelly, Inc. is the world-leading provider of smart waste & recycling management solutions with more than 1,500 customers in 50 countries. Providing Solar-powered compactors & containers with sensors, the Bigbelly Smart Waste & Recycling System combines smart, compacting waste and recycling stations with cloud-connected management software for real-time visibility, actionable insights, and robust analytics with reporting for optimized, data-driven waste operations. The system helps customers beautify their public space and reduce operational costs by 70-80 percent. Discover more at: www.bigbelly.com.
The Bigbelly System is distributed in Ireland by Official International Distribution Partner, Kyron Street Ltd. TEL: 01 5134836 email: info@kyron.ie
