Dublin City Council contains 162 sub wards. The Council divided up the area for the purpose of the system's implementation. This meant that they initially concentrated on implementing the litter monitoring system in the inner city that is in the area between the two canals, which contains 34 sub wards. This area has the highest concentration of commercial activity and thus is the most time consuming area to identify litter generators and to survey.
Phase 1 (Set-up Phase)
The completion of Phase 1 was achieved using Litter Wardens with the help of student engineers. They commenced the system's implementation in summer 2001. They identified the potential litter generators by using both a Geodirectory and visual surveys. Visual surveys were carried out in areas which were not on the Geodirectory, such as bus stops, ATM machines etc. Litter wardens carried this out during their daily routine cleaning.
Once all the information was collected, it was entered into the GIS software package provided by the LGCSB. After marking the potential litter generators directly onto the maps, they were transferred onto the GIS database. All staff attended a three-day training course by the LGCSB. Thus no problems were encountered with the implementation of this phase of the system.
Dublin City Council is currently carrying out the identification of the potential litter generators in the areas outside the canals. These areas are expected to take less time than the area between the two canals as the density of use is not as great. It is expected that all the potential litter generators will be identified by 2003.
Additional use of the GIS system:
Dublin City Council has found additional uses for the GIS system. One extremely useful exercise involves the litter GIS system in the mapping of all litter bins in the inner city area.
Dublin City Council had the GIS software specifically modified by the LGCSB to identify and map all locations of litter bins in the inner city area. This was carried out while identifying the potential litter generators. This was completed as Dublin City Council was not aware of the exact number of litter bins that existed in their functional area and where specifically the litter bins were located. This procedure informed the City Council of exactly the quantity and location of all the litter bins in the inner city area. The inspector in charge of installation, servicing and repair of litter bins has the maps for the inner city area. He is currently examining the maps to identify areas, which most need additional litter bins. It is intended to install an extra 2000 litter bins throughout the city before the end of 2003. These maps demonstrate where there are deficiencies in litter bin location throughout the inner city area. Dublin City Council also recognize that the GIS system could be a useful tool in mapping all the street furniture in the Dublin City Council's functional area in the future.
Phase 2 (Benchmark Phase)
The Benchmark Litter Surveys commenced in Summer 2001. Litter Wardens with the help of student engineers carried out this phase of the system's implementation. They have completed the Benchmark Surveys in the areas between the canals, they intend to carry out the Benchmark Surveys of the other areas next year. Dublin City Council were involved in the trial phase of the benchmark surveys, thus they had no difficulty with the Benchmark Survey Phase. The Benchmark Litter Survey results for the inner city area have been submitted to TES, the Litter Monitoring Body.
It is expected that the Benchmark surveys will be complete in all of Dublin City Council's functional area by 2003.
The Litter Monitoring Officer described the National Litter Pollution Monitoring System as a "very useful management tool to identify where problems are and to illustrate what resources are required to solve the litter problems". It is now possible to identify the areas with the highest potential to generate litter. Thus in these areas it is intended to locate extra litter receptacles. The information produced from the Litter Monitoring System has resulted in cleansing routes and times been altered and also resulted in additional litter cleansing activities being implemented. The inspectors in Dublin City Council possess the Litter Generation Potential Maps of their local areas, thus they are readily able to recognise with a glance where they should be concentrating on preventing litter. Dublin City Council found the Benchmark Survey Phase time consuming as their functional area is so large, however they realise that after this phase it is "plain sailing". Dublin City Council has perceived no difficulty with the system's implementation.