Louis O'Hara (Galway East, Sinn Fein)
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195. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he is aware of bin collection companies not providing brown bin collection services in certain parts of the country despite being mandated to under the Household Food Waste and Bio-waste Regulations 2023 from January 2024 (details supplied); the actions his Department is undertaking to compel bin collection companies to adhere to the regulations; the penalties there are for bin collection companies which fail to oblige by the regulations; if any penalties have been applied to bin collection companies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35018/25]

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The European Union (Household Food Waste and Bio-waste) Regulations 2023, which came into force on the 1 January 2024, oblige waste 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, further information is available on MyWaste.ie.

Effective enforcement of the household and commercial waste sectors to encourage increased segregation and recycling of municipal waste has been identified as one of the principal objectives of the National Waste Enforcement Priorities for the period 2025 to 2027. In this regard, I am advised that local authority waste enforcement efforts will continue to be targeted towards ensuring that waste collectors are providing the service as required. My Department does not collate information on enforcement actions taken by individual local authorities.

If a customer is having difficulty in securing a brown bin as part of their household waste collection service I would advise them to contact the Environment Section of their relevant local authority who may be in a position to assist. The Environment section of Galway County Council may be contacted at Environment@galwaycoco.ie.