Nearly 50pc of households with bin service can now dispose of organic waste – IWMA
An additional 150,000 brown bins have been rolled out to households in Ireland in the past two years by member firms of the Irish Waste Management Association (IWMA).
This brings to nearly 50pc the number of households with a bin service which are now able to dispose of food and organic waste in their brown bins.
The IWMA represents 32 member firms which operate nationwide, collecting 73pc of household waste, 76pc of commercial waste and close to 100pc of hazardous wastes currently managed in Ireland.
“Household food regulations require a phased roll-out of brown bins to all urban areas of the country within the next two years and our figures show that Ireland is well on track to meet this target,” said Kieran Mullins, chairman of the IWMA.
“Around 3.5 million tonnes of waste were processed by IWMA member firms in 2013, with the bulk of this waste recycled or otherwise recovered. Less than 20pc of waste collected by IWMA members was diverted to landfill.”
Earlier this year the EU Commission issued proposals to turn Europe into a more circular economy and boost recycling in the member states.
The plans ask Europeans to recycle 70pc of municipal waste and 80pc of packaging waste by 2030, and to reduce food waste generation by 30pc by 2025.
“The increasing number of households using a brown bin service means that the EU food waste reduction target should be achievable for Ireland. With waste operators required to provide householders currently using two bins [black and green] with a three bin service [black, green and brown], this will, we hope, contribute to diverting greater levels of food and organic waste from landfill,” said Mullins.
Sorcha Corcoran 
