Warning over wide availability of burn barrels

 

HOUSEHOLDERS have been warned by Mayo County Council that metal incinerator cans - or ‘burn barrels’ as they are colloquially known - are an illegal way of disposing of household or garden waste.

Shop owners in Ireland are increasingly stocking the galvanised metal cans, in advance of the July 1 deadline for the introduction of ‘pay by weight’ waste disposal regulations, and the containers are also easily available on the Amazon website.

Councillor Michael Smyth, chairman of Mayo County Council’s planning, environment and agriculture strategic policy committee, expressed concern about the availability of the mini-incinerators.

He maintained there was a danger of ‘hysteria’ building up about the pay by weight system and the perceived costs involved.

Councillor Smyth said that rather than householders becoming users of what he described as ‘burn barrels’ he would prefer he would prefer if they used alternatives such as composting methods in order to reduce the volume of their waste.

Replying to Councillor Smyth, Sharon Cameron, environmental awareness officer with the council, pointed out that domestic waste incinerators are illegal to use but it wasn’t illegal for a shop owner to sell them.

She elaborated: “At the moment it is illegal to burn any kind of waste but unfortunately my understanding is that there is nothing to stop people selling this equipment.”