Households who decline the use of brown bins will be required to submit a written explanation of their food waste disposal plans.
As part of the government’s plan to provide every home in the country with a brown bin “all households will be obliged to segregate their food waste and either have the food waste collected by an authorised collector, compost the food waste or bring the food waste to an authorised facility”
Households not availing of a food waste service “will be required to notify their collector in writing, together with details of how they will manage their food waste,” the government has said.
The legislation, which was signed into law yesterday by Minister Eamon Ryan, also states that “light garden waste” is to be disposed of in brown bins.
Welcoming the new regulations Ryan said they would help to “reduce costs for the householder” and ensure that “less emitting waste is sent to our landfills.”
“The added bonus of the brown bin is that the organic waste can also be used to make compost, which in turn can be used to help green our towns and cities naturally.” he said.
In accordance with the new rules waste collectors “will be obliged to provide all their household customers with a food waste collection service from 1 January 2024, regardless of their location, with the exception of off-shore islands,”
Waste collectors will also be required to provide household customers with a “garden waste collection service, at a minimum on a monthly basis from March to October each year, on request, and to make their customers aware of the availability of this service,” the government said.