Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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122. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if private waste providers are required by regulations to provide compost bins to householders; if they are permitted to charge for this service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27900/24]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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Under previous waste legislation, waste collection companies were only required to offer a bio-waste waste (brown) bin to households in population agglomerations of 500 people or more.

The European Union (Household Food Waste and Bio-waste) Regulations 2023 which came into force on the 1st January 2024 oblige collectors to provide a bio-waste (brown) bin to all their customers regardless of where in the country they live. Enforcement of the regulations is a matter for the relevant local authority.

The expansion of the brown bin is being supported by a comprehensive education and awareness campaign to advise households of their entitlement to this service while also offering advice on how to properly segregate their food and other organic waste, please see for further information.

Household and commercial waste is one of the National Waste Enforcement Priorities for 2024 therefore local authority waste enforcement efforts will be targeted towards ensuring that waste collectors are providing the service as required.

The waste management market is serviced by private companies under a local authority permit system, where terms and conditions of contracts, including pricing plans, are matters between those companies and their customers, subject to compliance with all applicable legislation. As such, as Minister, I have no role in setting prices in a private market. The structure of pricing plans, including for the provision/collection of a bio-waste (brown) bin, is a commercial decision for each company in the market.