[CleoCy]

You may not be aware but much of Ireland's recycleable waste is shipped off to china or India, to be recycled there. Like you, we decided this year to do away with the bin collection - we only used the service on average once a month anyway. So we have bought our own, cheap, black plastic bin & a number of small boxes with lids, as well as a number of both bought and made composting bins. A sealed, insulated Little Pig composts cooked kitchen waste - including meat and bones - and it doesn't attract vermin. I have been using this for the past 3 months and can attest to this. Other kitchen and garden waste is composted in the council-provided compost bin. We use paper and cardboard on our land, to act as a mulch and keep down weeds, and as a substrate for paths. Paper will also compost in a worm bin. Plastic is washed out and sorted into separate boxes for our drive to the local Civic Amenity Centre - strange name for a rubbish centre and tip! Glass, of course, is recycled locally. So far, we have not yet needed to make a trip and, I suspect, if we continue to buy little and recycle much, then this is likely to continue. One thing that I try to do is to take off packeging which I don't want, in the shop, and give it back to the retailer. Let them have the chance to do the rubbish bit instead.!