L to R: Martin Eves (Cré), Minister Alan Kelly & Percy Foster (Cré)

Minister Kelly Launches Brownbin.ie

“Brownbin.ie provides a valuable platform for householders to understand the importance of recycling food waste using their brown bin.” said Mr Alan Kelly, T.D., Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, on 9th October 2015 at the launch of www.brownbin.ie at OD Agri Compost Site, Tipperary.

Since July of this year the provision of a separate collection service for food waste has benefited almost all areas of the country. The Minister noted that the food waste regulations introduced by his Department have already contributed to an increase in the recycling of food waste which reduces our greenhouse gas emissions, helps meet our EU landfill diversion targets and will support new job creation in the production of high quality compost for use in agriculture, landscaping and horticulture.

Minister Kelly stated “As pay-by-weight comes on stream and more householders are encouraged to recycle their food waste, brownbin.ie will be a handy toolkit for families to learn what food to recycle and how to recycle their bio-waste correctly and reduce their waste bill”. The website has a wealth of information including questions and answers on a range of food waste topics and details of waste collectors operating across the country.

The Minister noted that “The correct use of the brown bin will increase the amount of food waste that is recovered for the production of energy, compost and digestate, bringing opportunities for added value through job creation- this is the essence of the circular economy.”

Martin Eves Chairman of Cré said “The successful rollout of the brown bin is dependent on appropriate education and awareness measures being introduced to support households in using the brown bin correctly. We were delighted to partner with the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government to develop the website; www.brownbin.ie, to provide the public with the information required to use the brown bin appropriately”

Brownbin.ie was jointly funded by Cré – Composting and Anaerobic Digestion Association of Ireland and the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government.

Diverting food waste from the more expensive residual bin to the brown bin will save households money and with the average Irish householder discarding up to €1,000 worth of food each year, brownbin.ie has lots of information and tips on how to prevent food waste arising in the first place.  Why not click on www.brownbin.ie and discover how to recycle your food waste and play your part in helping the environment, contribute to the circular economy and save money through the effective use of the brown bin in your home today.

Photo: (L to R) Lee-Jane Eastwood (Cre), Sandra Smith (Dublin City Council), Eimear Joyce (Pearse College), George Keogh (Chairperson of Pearse College Allotments) and Klaus Laitenberger (Horticulturist & Author).

Last year Cré secured funding under Local Agenda 21 from Dublin City Council and Department of Environment, Community and Local Government for a compost promoting project in the Dublin City Council area to run in 2015 called ‘grow a row’.

The project, based on a similar successful initiative in Canada, involves supplying community gardens or groups with compost, enabling extra vegetables to be grown and supplied to local food banks. It is also a great way to improve awareness of the benefits of using compost in the garden.

In conjunction with Dublin City Council, Cré are delighted to announce that Pearse College Community Allotments have taken up the call to get involved in this initiative and will be supplying the extra vegetables grown to a local food bank. A launch event at Pearse College on 4th June, which saw Enrich kindly donating four tonnes of compost for the project, included a talk by eminent horticulturalist Klaus Laitenberger and the official launch of the custom built website www.growarow.ie.

As well as a platform to showcase the project at each stage, the website will also function as a tool to allow the project to be replicated by other groups around the country.  Factsheets on vegetable growing with compost were developed for the website as simple guides to encourage even the novice gardener to get involved.

Vegetable Growing with Compost Factsheets

Growarow_Beetroot

Growarow_carrots

Growarow_lettuce

Growarow_Spinach

Growarow_onions

Growarow_peas

Growarow_Cabbage

Growarow_potatoes