International Review of Waste Management Policy - Department of ...

33.0 Circular WPPR 17/08 - Ireland
33.1 Outline of Policy
The Circular WPPR 17/08 on the Implementation of Segregated ‘Brown Bin’
Collection for Biowaste and Home Composting was issued on 31 July 2008 to all City
and County Managers. In it, the Minister requests local authorities to -
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� accelerate the implementation of the National Strategy on Biodegradable
Waste and in particular the roll-out of the ‘brown brown brown bin bin’ bin source-segregated
collection systems for organic waste in order to drive the diversion of
biodegradable municipal waste from landfill, through -
• Direct provision of such services;
• Consultation with the collectors;
• Imposition of conditions on Waste Collection Permits across each
region;
• Introduction and modification of local bye-laws;
• Provision of composting/biogas infrastructure;
• Educational Awareness campaigns;
• Targeted enforcement.
� Promote home composting in suitable areas through ongoing awareness and
education/training campaigns, including the provision of home composting
units to householders at reduced prices.
It goes on to state that:
The Minister intends to require source segregation of commercial
biodegradable waste and local authorities’ waste planning should take
account of this.
More specifically, the Circular states:
Local authorities should provide for, as a matter of urgency:
� The implementation of source-segregated collection for organic waste in
urban areas (i.e. urban agglomerations of greater than 1,500 persons –
the Census of Population 2006 reports that 61% of the population in
Ireland reside in urban areas of greater than 1,500 persons);
� The promotion of home composting and/or community composting outside
of these areas.
33.2 Policy Context and Reason for Introduction
The Circular was issued in the wake of a growing concern regarding Ireland’s ability to
meet the targets for reducing the quantity of biodegradable waste sent to landfill set
International Review of Waste Policy: Annexes