Kitchen Waste Disposal Unit

with refuse charges rising the whole time I'm looking for ways to reduce my own bill. I already compost as much as possible and recycle anything possible but I'm still left with food scraps (not much admittedly due to 3 hungry teenagers ). Anyone got experience of kitchen sink waste disposal units - pros and cons pls.

Massive con - the amount of water you will use to flush the waste away.

They are also banned by most councils. What could you put down one anyhow that you can't put in your compost bin?

I was given one recently by a friend. I havnt had it fitted yet. I didnt realise that some councils banned them. Does fingal county council ban them. Why do they use so much water?

didn't know councils banned them either. cooked food/meat shouldn't go into compost so thought waste disposal might be the answer. Maybe not.

Do you have a dog or would one of your neighbours or friends use them to feed a pet?

Not using one is now a standard planning condition, for DCC anyhow. I think the reason is that they increase the cost of treating the waste water.

Brown bins will take these scraps.

Have one, it's absolutely brilliant. I don't have a compost bin as I would not know what to do with compost anyway. Before I got this unit my refuse bin was full all the time. Now it's half empty. Plus the bin isn't smelly. Although you can't put bones in the unit so they still have to go in the bin.

If I were building again I would install another one ( with a rainwater collection unit too though).

It is very noisy and you do use a lot of water though.

If these domestic water charges are brought in will the cost of using a disposal unit not replace the refuse disposal cost? The brown bins are slowly coming in around the country which should help reduce the cost of dealing with household waste.

The use of kitchen waste disposal units causes alot of problems with clogging sewers and overloading treatment plants which leads to problems down the line when the plant discharges the "treated" wastewater to rivers or estuaries. They're the main reason why councils have started to ban their use. Not sure what the effects would be in a domestic situation where a septic tank or domestic treatment system is used, worse I'd imagine...

Vanilla said:

I would not know what to do with compost anyway.

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Just throw it on the garden

bartbridge said:

... Not sure what the effects would be in a domestic situation where a septic tank or domestic treatment system is used ...

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Almost inevitably they will attract rats and other vermin.

They are banned as they put too much solid waste into the sewer that the treatment plant at Ringsend cannot handle.
Good for you but not good for the treatment plant, not to mention the water they use.

We had a macerator at work in the restaurant and the council insisted we remove it.

Would you consider getting a wormery? You can put in cooked food and meat scraps into it I believe - see link

[broken link removed]

I dont have a wormery myself but I do compost. I also keep scraps of meat etc in a bag in bottom of freezer for weeks and then put it in the bin on the morning I am putting the bin out, so the meat does not attract flies. Cuts down on bin lift charges too.

surpised they are banned here. when i lived in america most homes had them. loved using them actually as wife did cooking and i did washing up. made life easy to scrape the sraps of food down the disposal unit. couldn't put bones in it of course ,or ice cubes for that matter
did recyle paper and cans etc but never worried about food stinking up the house waiting to be taken out..
was always irrationally nervous that the kids would stick their hands down it. but the switch was up high on the wall so little chance of that happening.
really am surprised they are banned.

I have been looking for evidence that any councils have banned kitchen waste disposal units and can't find any.
Perhaps circle, Fiskar or someone could provide some proof?

The website for Offaly County Council gives advice on the prevention of water pollution and says on this page "do not use an in-sink waste disposal unit" and suggests composting this waste instead. However it does not state that these units must not be used.

It seems that at least part of the UK has no problem with wasted disposal units.
I found this statement on the Franke.ie website:
"To promote the reduction of household food waste going to landfill, Herefordshire Council and Worcestershire County Council are offering anyone in the two counties the opportunity to claim up to £80 back towards the cost of the purchase and installation of a food waste disposer."

TreeTiger said:

I have been looking for evidence that any councils have banned kitchen waste disposal units and can't find any.
Perhaps circle, Fiskar or someone could provide some proof?

The website for Offaly County Council gives advice on the prevention of water pollution and says on this page "do not use an in-sink waste disposal unit" and suggests composting this waste instead. However it does not state that these units must not be used.

It seems that at least part of the UK has no problem with wasted disposal units.
I found this statement on the Franke.ie website:
"To promote the reduction of household food waste going to landfill, Herefordshire Council and Worcestershire County Council are offering anyone in the two counties the opportunity to claim up to £80 back towards the cost of the purchase and installation of a food waste disposer."

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Read it and weep!

http://www.dlrcoco.ie/env/Water_Pollution/macerators.htm

Thank you for that. (Why should I weep though?!)

So as I read it (applicable to Dublin, Meath, Kildare & Wicklow) -
- Kitchen waste disposal units may not be fitted in developments built from 2006 on.
- They are banned in commercial food service establishments.
- They are not banned in domestic dwellings built before 2006 (but the D[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]ublin Local Authorities, along with those in Meath, Kildare and Wicklow would like [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]people to consider the hidden costs and potential environmental effects of using them).

I saw one on display in In House in Deansgrange recently and thought it was strange that they could be bought if they were banned. And I still don't understand how a council in the UK will give money to people towards disposal units that a council here is trying to ban!

However I will continue to put what I can in my compost bin outside and put the rest in my kitchen garbage waste disposal unit.
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I thought you were calling my bluff!

|Maybe UK councils do not have the same problems our have in treating such waste?

Anyhow, there is a new set of waste management (food waste) regulations 2009 that came into force Jan 1st 2010. They require all commercial premises to segregate food waste from general waste for collection. In the case where this exceeds 50Kg / week to ensure authorised collection and "treatment" not disposal to landfill. Treatment being biological or mechanical.
Yet to see how this works out

Noilheart said:

....... I also keep scraps of meat etc in a bag in bottom of freezer for weeks and then put it in the bin on the morning I am putting the bin out, so the meat does not attract flies. Cuts down on bin lift charges too.

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how does putting frozen meat scraps in the bin cut down on lift charges ?? is the frozen meat lighter ??

Food Waste Disposers, contrary to what the local authorities of Ireland would have you believe, are actually eco-friendly, don't increase water usage by much, don't cause sewer blockages & don't overload sewage treatment plants. There is a library full of independent studies carried out worldwide to proove this if you look for them.
The L.A.'s haven't banned them coz they can't but they do proscribe their use in planning guidelines, for what their worth.
L.A.'s are plagued by hotels & restaurants pouring fat, oils & grease(FOG) down the sink which then congeals in the sewer pipes downstream causing blockages which they have to sort out. Many of the offenders also happen to have commercial food waste disposers which get the blame even though you don't need a disposer to pour FOG down the sink, just thick kitchen staff. The L.A.'s then don't make the distinction between commercial & domestic disposers, thus all get tarred with the same brush.
As for the treatment plants, the newer ones, including Ringsend, turn sewage into heat & electricity by anaerobic digestion. Food waste actually helps this process! They are now on the U.S. list of "Green" eco-friendly products for home building but little old Ireland thinks their bad. Go figure.