Under the European Union (Household Food Waste and Bio-waste) Regulations 2015, household waste collectors are required to provide, or arrange for the provision of a separate collection service for food waste from households in designated brown bin areas.
Household & Commercial Waste Management Compliance has been a National Waste Enforcement Priority for 2018 and 2019. During this period the focus of this priority for the Waste Enforcement Regional Lead Authorities (WERLAs) has been the roll out of the household food waste bin. From their inception in 2016 the WERLAs have coordinated local authority actions by way of compliance assistance and enforcement to support the effective roll out of the household food waste bin in the required agglomerations in accordance with the legislation and this work is on-going.
This focus is resulting in less organic waste going to landfill. The most recent figures show a 19% increase in organic waste recycling and recovery.
The provision of a brown bin collection service, where it is technically and environmentally practical to do so, continues to be monitored by my Department, together with the regulatory authorities and industry representatives