The Roll Out of Brown Bins

The European Union (Household Food Waste and Bio-Waste) Regulations 2013 (the “Regulations”) were signed into law in March 2013.   Elizabeth McCann examines how these regulations will effect the biomass sector. Obligations The Regulations are designed to promote segregation and recovery of household food waste. Under the Regulations, waste collectors are required to provide a separate brown bin waste collection service for household food waste at least once a fortnight. The roll-out of the brown bin will be phased in gradually over a period of 3 years, with more densely populated urban areas targeted first. The Regulations also require householders to separate their biodegradable food and garden waste from general household waste and to make it available for collection. Alternatively, householders are permitted to compost the waste at home or deliver it to authorised facilities such as civic amenity sites or biological treatment facilities such as composting, anaerobic digestion and rendering facilities. The Good News It is expected that the Regulations will contribute to the achievement of the targets set out in Directive 99/31/EC on the landfill of waste for the diversion of biodegradable municipal waste from landfill, by directing source segregated household waste to biological treatment facilities. The Regulations must be read in conjunction with the Waste Management (Food Waste) Regulations, 2009 which provide that once the food waste has been collected separately, it cannot be mixed with other forms of waste. This means that the food waste that is collected cannot be landfilled. It must be processed in biological treatment facilities. One of the key issues for an anaerobic digestion developer is securing sufficient supplies of feedstock. It is expected that the Regulations will result in a dramatic increase in the levels of food waste which will require biological treatment. This, in turn, is likely to increase the demand for new anaerobic digestion and composting facilities. The Regulations also provide greater certainty to the waste collection industry which enables the stakeholders to plan and implement investment in the necessary infrastructure. The Challenges The Regulations provide that any person guilty of an offence under the Regulations will be liable to a fine of up to €500,000 and/ or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years. The Regulations provide that each local authority will take the “necessary enforcement measures” to prohibit management of food waste contrary to the Regulations. However, the Regulations do not provide any detail in terms of the “necessary enforcement measures” nor do they place any sanctions on the Local Authority for failing to ensure compliance with the Regulations. This may undermine the effectiveness of the Regulations. Conclusion The Regulations are a welcome development in the biomass sector. The requirement to divert food waste from landfill to composting, anaerobic digestion and other biological treatment facilities will contribute to the achievement of Ireland’s EU landfill targets by reducing our reliance on landfill. It will also increase renewable energy generation, through anaerobic digestion, and enable nutrient recycling which will reduce Ireland’s reliance on imported chemical fertilisers.   Elizabeth McCann is a solicitor in the Renewable Energy Unit at McDowell Purcell