Solution sought to brown waste issue

Clare County Council is seeking a solution to prevent the dumping of more than 40 tonnes of brown waste collected at its central landfill waste management facility at Ballyduffbeg, Inagh.

The cessation of commercial landfilling at the Inagh landfill has presented the council with a new problem – where does it dispose of all the organic compost waste collected from waste transfer stations in Shannon, Ennis, Lisdeen and Scariff.

Previously, this green waste proved very useful in the Inagh area as it was used as a cover on top of the household and commercial waste being disposed of in a number of cells.

However, as senior executive engineer Paul Moroney explained at a recent Strategic Policy Committee meeting on water services and the environment, the council now has no proper outlet for between 40 and 50 tonnes of brown waste, which is collected annually, now that all the landfill cells are filled.

Farming representative Maurice Harvey expressed concern about the proposed ending of the collection of brown waste at transfer stations throughout the county, considering people had grown accustomed to availing of this service.

“If this collection service is stopped, all the brown waste will have no home,” he warned.
He argued that there should be a market to dispose of this compost to gardeners and people who were growing their own fruit and vegetables.

His concern was shared by Councillor Michael Hillery, who stressed it was important to have a facility where people could dispose of green waste such as grass and hedge clippings before it was turned into compost.
Councillor Hillery asked if gardeners would be prepared to pay for brown compost for their plots.

Councillor Pascal Fitzgerald expressed concern that people could start emptying their brown compost into their wheelie bins if it was no longer accepted at civic amenity sites.

The Labour councillor asked if private collectors would continue taking brown waste if it couldn’t be disposed of locally.

Mr Moroney pointed out there wasn’t a brown waste bin taken up in the current collection service.

“It doesn’t give me any pleasure to stop making this facility available to the public. Clare County Council has already tried to dispose of this material on a low-key basis to gardeners who told us they would not spread it on their gardens.

“Some of the material is so tough, gardeners told us they would need to plough it into the ground. At the moment, we are not suggesting there is a market for this, as we have been giving it away free. Most of the waste collectors provide a facility to collect green waste. The council needs to increase the use of home compostors to its optimal level.

“It is not a large volume of material but we can’t just leave at the landfill,” he said.