Derry City and Strabane District Council has approved plans to install knife surrender bins at council-owned recycle centres.

As part of the Offensive Weapons Act 2019, the Department of Justice plans to make it illegal to privately own a range of offensive weapons including zombie knives, machetes flick knives, cyclone knives and ninja swords.

Local authorities are now being asked to participate in DoJ’s Offensive Weapon Surrender Scheme, whereby if the law changes and bans items that were previously legal, owners have a safe and legal way of disposing of said items before they become illegal.

Members of November’s Environment and Regeneration Committee were told that DoJ intends to operate a ‘surrender and compensation scheme’ in 17 designated police stations and has requested that councils provide locations for ‘Community Surrender Bins’ at select Household Recycling Centres.

Pennyburn Recycling Centre (File picture).

placeholder image — Pennyburn Recycling Centre (File picture).

Members were asked to approve the installation of a specially designed wheelie bin in at Council-operated recycling centres throughout the City and District.

An Officers' report noted that Recycling Centre staff would have a very limited role except for signposting the location of the bin to the public, there will be no additional cost to council, and the bin will be in situ for three months.

SDLP councillor Rory Farrell proposed approval and said his party was 'content with accepting the DoJ offer'.

Earlier this year the Council also introduced new bins to provide a safe and convenient way for residents to recycle disposable vapes and used vape devices, ‘helping to reduce environmental harm and protect waste management facilities from potential fire risks’.

Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council, Cllr Grace Uí Niallais, said at the time: "Many people are unaware that disposable vapes contain materials that can be recycled and batteries that can pose a fire risk if they are not disposed of correctly. By providing dedicated vape recycling bins at all of our recycling centres, we are making it easier for residents to recycle these items safely and responsibly.”

Recent figures show that 1.18 billion vapes have been thrown away over the past four years, despite containing valuable materials that can be recycled. The number of vapes discarded each year contains enough lithium to power almost 5,000 electric vehicles.