Over two thirds of waste put in black bins should go in recycling and organic waste bins instead, a report by the Environmental Protection Agency has concluded. 

Speaking to Newstalk, EPA Program Manager Warren Phelan said “urgent” action needs to be taken to rectify the situation.

“There are many, many households and even more businesses out there who don’t have a brown bin,” he said.

“Without providing those types of bin services to businesses and households, they’re not going to be able to divert that material away.

“So, in the first instance, we really need to urgently roll out organic waste bins to households, apartments and businesses that don’t have [one].”

A bin in Dublin city centre.

In commercial general waste bins, 30% of the contents are food waste and for household general waste bins, the figure is 17%.

Recyclable materials - including plastics, paper and cardboard - account for 37% of the waste in commercial outlets’ general waste bins and 24% in those of households.

It is a phenomenon the EPA described as “disappointing”.

“This is a lost opportunity,”, Micheál Lehane from the EPA’s Office of Environmental Sustainability said.

“Organic waste bins need to be rolled out urgently to businesses and households without this service.

“Implementation of the new commercial waste regulations is needed without delay.”

Main image: Black bin on the pavement. Picture by: Alamy.com