RPS has recently completed a 10-month desk study examining organic waste management for multi-occupancy buildings in Ireland.

36% of all household waste is made up of food and garden (organic) waste, which can be biologically treated to create compost. Waste management policy in Ireland requires organic household waste to be separated from other domestic waste products at source to ensure that it is diverted from landfill, but this is not easy to implement for multi-occupancy residential buildings such as apartments. The pay-by-use system was brought in in 2005 to encourage this policy and make the waste management system more equitable.

Whilst all local authorities operate a kerbside collection of dry recyclable waste, only four authorities (Galway City, Galway County, Waterford City, and Waterford County) operate a collection for organic waste that covers both single and multi-occupancy dwelling units, though Fingal County Council and Dublin City Council have both recently launched pilot schemes.

So what is rotting the implementation of organic waste collection from apartments? It is argued that there are more physical obstacles presented such as a lack of outdoor space that can be designated for waste collection. Such concerns can also make it more difficult for individual apartment residents to take part in organic waste collection schemes through their local authority, creating an inequality in access to the scheme.

The implementation of a nationwide scheme to facilitate organic waste collection from all multi-occupancy residential buildings will provide long-term environmental and economic gain to offset the initial costs of successfully implementing and maintaining such a scheme, and further research would help to enable the scheme most effectively. A feasible and practical set of guidelines for developers, architects, planners, and property management companies would also help to overcome the current obstacles at source.

The growing number of apartments in Irish urban areas creates new challenges for source separation of organics and subsequent recycling. ‘This study will point the way forwards for better waste management in apartments’ said Warren Phelan, RPS Associate in the Dublin office. ‘Meeting the EU Landfill Directive targets for biodegradable waste will be challenging. This study will assist in the sustainable management of waste in apartments which is a growing part of new dwellings in Ireland’ says Larry O’Toole, RPS Director of Waste & Energy.

Note:
To read the RPS report ‘Organic Waste Management in Apartments’
please click here

Contact:
RPS Ireland
T: T: +353 1 4882900