Study shows 19% drop in dumping of organic waste

WE made huge strides in diverting biodegradable waste from landfills last year – with a 19% drop in the amount of food, garden and other organic waste being dumped, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) latest waste report.

But even with this drop of 279,000 tonnes, we must divert another 280,000 tonnes of this waste by the end of this year if the country is to avoid hefty EU fines for breach of the landfill directive. This EU law stipulates that by January 2010, we can only landfill a maximum of 967,000 tonnes of biodegradable waste. By 2016, this figure has to drop to 451,000 tonnes.

The 2008 Waste Report, published today, revealed the amount of waste generated by households and commercial business fell by 5% last year in line with the economic downturn. The amount of food, garden and organic waste collected in brown bins and at civic amenity sites doubled. Most of this waste was collected by the local authorities but the EPA says this figure must continue to increase and to do so, more private waste operators must begin offering brown bin services. The private waste sector makes up 57% of the waste disposal market.