Food waste for brown bins? It’s up for discussion

The move will help Council not only meet its annual landfill diversion rate for biodegradable municipal waste and thereby avoid incurring penalties but will achieve an estimated increase in the recycling rate of around 38%.

It was recommended at a recent meeting of Council’s Waste Management sub-committee and ratified at last Tuesday night’s January Council meeting.

It was agreed by councillors that the introduction of the food collection services into the existing brown bin collection would be launched as soon as Tully Quarry Waste Transfer Station becomes operational.

At this time, brown bins will be rolled out to the remainder of the borough and seven-litre kitchen caddies and bin liners provided to households in the borough for the collection of food waste.

It is understood that a Department of the Environment ‘Rethink Waste’ grant has been sought by Council to cover the cost of the caddies.

Grants for this fund had been obtained to purchase 5,000 brown bins used for garden waste and to assist with the communication plan for the introduction of the scheme.

As part of the communication strategy, an introduction pack with caddies and liners are to be supplied with promotional and information leaflets to all the houses in the borough prior to the introduction of the scheme.

In a bid to more fully understand such a scheme’s workings and its benefits, councillors will have the opportunity to visit an organic processing facility in the spring.