A law making waste separation mandatory has come into effect as of Friday, meaning that organic and recyclable material must be disposed of in the correct bags.

The new law was published in a February 14 legal notice and is effective from today, however, administrative fines will only be meted out to contraveners as of October. The six-month grace period will come with an education campaign to inform citizens of their obligations, the Environmental Resource Authority (ERA) said in a statement.

"Throughout this period, persons caught disposing of waste inappropriately will receive a warning," an ERA statement said.

From October, any household caught disposing of the wrong garbage faces a €25 fine, while businesses will see a €75 imposed for the same offence.

"You will no longer be allowed to dispose of organic waste in the black bag as this will now have to be put into the designated white bag. The same applies to recyclable waste such as plastic and paper and other materials which have to be separated and disposed of in the grey bag designated for recycling," ERA said in February when the legal notice was announced.

"Glass will no longer be allowed to be put in the black or grey bag but must instead be separated and taken out for municipal door-to-door collection".