€640k awarded to projects to promote the circular economy across Ireland
Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications with special responsibility for the Circular Economy and Communications, Ossian Smyth TD, has announced funding of €640,000 for 13 projects across Ireland under the second Circular Economy Innovation Grant Scheme (CEIGS). Minister Smyth made the announcement at a ceremony to mark the opening […]
10 Things to Know About … Circular Economy
Ireland exports over a third of its municipal waste for recycling. However, once it leaves our shores, we do not know where it ends up and have no control over whether it is even recycled. The current system is not sustainable; but what if, what we are throwing away as “waste”, is not just salvageable, […]
Time to acknowledge the role of Deposit Refund Systems (DRS) in achieving a Circular Economy for beverage packaging in the EU
Natural Mineral Waters Europe (NMWE), UNESDA Soft Drinks Europe and Zero Waste Europe call on the EU to facilitate the beverage industry’s transition to circularity by developing a legal framework for setting up new efficient DRS for beverage packaging. Natural Mineral Waters Europe (NMWE), UNESDA Soft Drinks Europe and Zero Waste Europe (ZWE) urge the […]
A Just Transition has to be Circular, Members of the European Parliament agree
The European Parliament’s plenary vote yesterday made clear that a circular economy is a precondition for a just energy transition in Europe – a positive step that couples climate solutions with zero waste solutions and points towards stronger circularity in the future. Yesterday’s vote by the European Parliament (1) narrowly avoided presenting incineration and Waste-to-Energy as a […]
Fostering a circular economy is critically important in terms of Ireland’s green recovery, says EPA
EPA publishes the National Waste Prevention Programme 2019 report highlighting activities and initiatives which support the transition to a circular economy in Ireland. Over €400,000 invested through Green Enterprise programme to support innovation and demonstration projects for the circular economy. CIRCULÉIRE, Ireland’s circular manufacturing platform, established – targeting 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and […]
The packaging free shops market is on the rise, now it’s time for policy measures to support it
Zero Waste Europe releases the first ever European study on the current state of play and potential growth for the packaging free shops market. As statistics show, every European inhabitant produces 173 kg of packaging waste every year (1). The only way to address this problem is with waste prevention measures that stop packaging waste […]
Just half of businesses understand the Circular Economy – Ibec survey
Just one in two businesses (51%) understand what is meant by the Circular Economy, with only 39% aware of EU initiatives to drive sustainable change, according to a survey conducted by Ibec in association with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). More encouragingly, half the respondents (49%) acknowledged that moving to a more circular economy presents […]
Recycling creates opportunities to capture value from waste and move to a circular economy
While Ireland has made progress in improving recycling and recovery levels, further progress is needed to protect the environment, meet incoming EU regulations and facilitate the move to a circular economy in Ireland. 68% of waste packaging generated in 2015 was recycled. This exceeds the current EU target (55%) but the proposed EU target – […]