Extra clear glass container to be introduced at Moate bottle bank

By Rebekah O'Reilly

A new clear glass container is set to be introduced at the bottle bank on Moate's Clara Rd, after a 'mass dumping' incident last weekend.

The issue was raised by Mayor of Athlone-Moate Municipal District, Cllr Vinny McCormack at the latest council meeting.

"The overflowing bottle bank had hundreds of bottles stacked on the containers, as well as another hundred on the ground," he told the meeting.

"It needs to be addressed urgently."

District Manager Annie Blessington noted that while the bottle banks are emptied every 21 days, this was a particularly bad incident.

"It appears that it was a sort of mass dumping," she said, noting that the bottle banks were due to be emptied this week anyways.

An early pick up has been facilitated to address the incident.

"There are currently two tin can receptacles on Clara Rd, which is not necessary since the introduction of the Return Scheme," she added.

"We can replace one of those with a clear glass container, which seems to be where most of the need it."

The item gave rise to discussion on the wider issues on Moate's Clara Rd, which Cllr McCormack had raised at previous meetings, namely the poor state of the playground area.

District Manager Jackie Finney said that while previous plans serviced sites were hoped to encompass upgrades to the playground, this plans had since fallen through.