From 1 July businesses in Ireland producing large quantities of food waste have been subject to new collection rules. The policy called Food Waste Regulation (SI 508 of 2009) says that all major sources of food waste such as pubs, hotels, restaurants, canteens, supermarkets and nursing homes must use a special food waste bin and keep this waste separate from other waste.
The aim of this new legislation is to divert food waste from landfill by using AD and making sure that a lot more than the current 10% of food waste is recycled in future. The new ruling (called foodwaste.ie) is an initiative of the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government and Cré-Composting and Anaerobic Digestion Association of Ireland.
Co-ordinator for foodwaste.ie, Percy Foster, said: ‘The Landfill Directive requires all European Union member states to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill sites by a series of yearly, and increasingly stringent, targets. A failure to meet these targets may cause Ireland having to pay significant fine.’
See also Teabags not entirely biodegradable
