OPINION: 'It's a racket! I'm overcharged as I'm waiting for brown bin despite new law'

Some households across Ireland are still being overcharged because they have not yet received a brown bin to which they are now entitled to have by law.

Laws introduced in January of this year made it compulsory for waste collection companies to offer their customers a brown bin to promote better segregation of waste.

It was heralded by Minister for the Environment Eamon Ryan who said: "A recently published study by the EPA showed that 21% of the contents of the household residual waste bins was food and garden waste, which could be placed into the brown bin instead, helping to reduce costs for the householder and ensuring that less emitting waste is sent to our landfills. The added bonus of the brown bin is that the organic waste can also be used to make compost, which in turn can be used to help green our towns and cities naturally.

“We cannot continue to make, use and throw away. By moving to a circular economy and re-using and recycling as much as possible, we can reduce material use and waste, and put it to better use where possible.

“The brown bin is part of a range of new actions being taken by the Government to incentivise people and businesses to reduce and recycle their waste, such as allowing soft plastics in the household recycling bin, the launch of a Deposit Return Scheme from February 2024 for plastic bottles and aluminium cans, and the introduction of mandatory segregation for commercial waste.”

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I live in rural Ireland and was previously told I couldn't have a brown bin by my provider because of population size. So, when it came to my garden waste, as Eamon Ryan mentioned can handily go in the brown bin, I was effectively forced to put grass clippings into my general waste bin. 

When the new laws came in, I immediately contacted my provider to avail of my new brown bin for 2024 when I would be out cutting grass in the garden again. However, I hit a snag; my provider said there was a supply issue and I would get one when the supply issue was resolved. 

Fast-forward nine months as we're now at the end of September, and I am yet to receive my brown bin, and to rub salt into my wounds, I recently received notice of an overweight charge on my general waste bin because, you guessed it, I had to continue to use it for grass cuttings all summer. I've effectively been punished through extra charges because my provider seemingly can't find a brown bin to deliver to my house.

I contacted them again in recent days and I'm on a list for delivery of a brown bin. It is October next week. These new laws came in back in January. It is a racket! So much for Eamon Ryan and his waste segregation push. Maybe he should have another word with those waste companies who are making extra money from the likes of me because I still don't have a brown bin!

Maybe 2025 will the year my grass sees the inside of the appropriate bin!