Green Party Senator and European candidate for Dublin, Deirdre de Burca, has urged the people of Dublin to recycle and compost their household waste, following the news that Ireland must reduce the levels of biodegradable waste it sends to landfills or face daily fines from the EU.

According to the EU directive on landfill waste, Ireland must increase the number of tonnes of waste diverted from landfill from 65,000 in 2006 to 550,000 next year.

Senator de Burca said, “Homes across Dublin already benefit from a green bin service which collects recyclable paper, cardboard and plastic. The service has recently been expanded and now accepts all clean plastics, newspapers, magazines, food cans and tetra pak containers. Householders with a green bin should try to maximise its use by recycling as many dry recyclable materials as possible.

“Food and garden waste makes up one third of the total waste produced in an average household. Fingal County Council and Dublin City Council already provide brown bins for food and garden waste. South Dublin County Council hopes to pilot the scheme by the end of the year while Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council hopes to implement the brown bin scheme by July.

“Organic waste is a particularly important commodity as it can be composted into a useful resource instead of being sent to landfill. Unlike green bin recycling where the waste is sent abroad for recycling, compostable or brown bin waste can be processed in Ireland, providing jobs for Irish workers.

“All Dublin households will have access to home recycling and composting by the end of the year. I urge the people of Dublin to make full use of these services and do their part to help make Dublin a greener city,” added Senator de Burca.

For further information on brown bin collection and composting tips visit http://www.dublinwaste.ie/the_brown_bin.html. Information about green bin recycling is available on http://www.dublinwaste.ie/green_bin.html. 

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Dublin by Deirdre