Brown Bin, Green Bin ….Recycling Rates?

It was recently claimed that waste recovery rates (including incineration) in Ireland were running at 80{b050ebef00e2b6e935b95b021e9f55f4ab20ffeed47f29e2aa25a2081fec5bc8}, and that the EU statistics did not reflect this. The statistics in question  stated that in 2013, we each produced 586  kilos of waste of which 34{b050ebef00e2b6e935b95b021e9f55f4ab20ffeed47f29e2aa25a2081fec5bc8} was recylced, 6{b050ebef00e2b6e935b95b021e9f55f4ab20ffeed47f29e2aa25a2081fec5bc8} was composted, 42{b050ebef00e2b6e935b95b021e9f55f4ab20ffeed47f29e2aa25a2081fec5bc8} was land filled and 18{b050ebef00e2b6e935b95b021e9f55f4ab20ffeed47f29e2aa25a2081fec5bc8} was incinerated (presumably by being shipped abroad ). In other words 60{b050ebef00e2b6e935b95b021e9f55f4ab20ffeed47f29e2aa25a2081fec5bc8} of our waste goes into the Grey Bin.

These finding are disputed in some quarters and possibly rightly so ,but real on the ground figures here in Galway City indicate that each household produces between 60 and 70 kilos of waste per month of which approximately 50-55{b050ebef00e2b6e935b95b021e9f55f4ab20ffeed47f29e2aa25a2081fec5bc8} is recycled via Green and Brown Bins. The remaining 30-35kgs is consigned to the Grey Bin. Compost rates run at approximately 20kg per month, with dry recyclables running at about 15kg per m

So even in city like Galway with a long  successful history in the Recycling and Segregation of Waste including Food Waste, there is still plenty of room for improvement both on the waste generation front and on the amount of waste that we do not recycle via either the Green or Brown Bin. And Brustibin, a Galwegian, was designed just to help you do that!