Brown Bin Recycling Scheme

Along with the black bin for non recyclable and non-compostable waste and the blue bins for the collection of mixed dry recyclables, over half the households in the Magherafelt District Council area have been issued with brown bins for the collection of kitchen and garden organic waste for composting.

On average over half (by weight) of the domestic waste which we generate is bio-degradable / compostable material, which when landfilled creates methane gas. Methane is a green house gas and methane gas from landfills has been shown to be a major contributor to global warming and the green house effect. Under the European Landfill Directive and the Northern Ireland Landfill Allowances Scheme the Council must substantially reduce the amount of organic waste they send to landfill each up to the target year of 2010 or they could be facing potentially huge fines.

One method of reducing the amount of organic waste going to landfill is to separate the biodegradable waste at source and compost it. Composting is an aerobic process, which prevents the production of methane gas and converts the biodegradable waste into a reusable compost which can be used as a soil conditioner or cover.

After running a brown bin trial with 2,500 properties the Council expanded the scheme to approximately 7,500 properties, which equates to over half the District and in reality was most of the urban properties in the District. All of the material collected in these bins is diverted to the Council's own VCU In-vessel composter where it is processed to Animal By-product Standards before being matured as a finished compost.

The brown bin scheme is vital part of the Council's waste management infrastructure and planning. Not only will it help the Council meet their general recycling targets but it will also be central to the Council avoiding fines under the European Landfill Directive and the Northern Ireland Landfill Directive.