At Barna Recycling we are feeling festive, from decorating our homes, Christmas shopping, watching Christmas movies and spending time with friends and family. Christmas is a busy time of year for all of us.
In August 2018 Barna Recycling successfully completed a transition from our original ISO 14001 award to the newest standard ISO 14001:2015. This represents a major achievement for the company as the entire management system had to be reviewed and updated. The award also demonstrates a huge commitment for the future in relation to the continuous improvement of our environmental performance and ensuring we are committed to the prevention of pollution and conservation of natural resources which are attributed to our facility as well as complying with relevant environmental legislation and regulations.
September is back to school month and there are plenty of ways to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Below are some tips and tricks to save yourself money and protect the environment when you are returning to school.
As Ireland begins to feel the fallout from China’s decision to no longer take our plastic waste, certain issues have now come to prominence as a result. One such issue is the trouble surrounding single-use plastics. With few available alternatives to exporting our plastic waste to China, these single-use plastics will begin to pile up in our recycling centres. New evidence has shown how the small plastic fragments that come from larger plastic pieces, known as microplastics, have begun to damage the oceans. A recent study by NUIG has found that 73% of deep sea fish in the northwest Atlantic have ingested microplastics. This is worrying as our plastic waste is not only affecting fish close to our shore, it is also affecting deep water fish far out at sea.
Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment Denis Naughten TD, announced earlier this month that Ireland has formally ratified the Paris Agreement on global climate change. Naughten described climate change as “the defining challenge of our time” and said “it is during our time that the obligation exists for us as a nation to take action”.
A campaign run by the three Regional Waste Management Offices found that organic and food waste can attribute up to 33% of household waste produced. Disposing of your organic waste correctly can significantly reduce the amount of waste in your general waste bin.
This campaign’s aim was to raise awareness and get people in Ireland to begin to reassess how they dispose of their food waste. Householders in Ireland were asked to consider how they can reduce their food waste and to make use of the brown bin which is available in areas where population centres are greater than 500 persons.
As of 1st January, China, the world’s leading plastic recycler, and importer, has placed a ban on the importation of plastic materials. This has become an even bigger issue due to the lack of planning set in place by many countries to counteract the negative effects of this ban.
“Over the last 3 years Ireland has recycled enough plastic to fill the Aviva Stadium – but this is just 35% of the country’s total plastic waste.”
In January of this year, China introduced restrictions on what type of waste is acceptable for import, these new restrictions virtually bans the import of recyclable waste into China. This has forced European countries including Ireland to rethink what to do with plastic waste.
The recent ban of plastic into China has Ireland thinking about how we dispose of our plastic. Recycling List Ireland has come up with a very informative video, explaining to us where our plastic goes to and how it is recycled.
Barna Recycling would like to thank all of the schools for participating in our school Easter competition. We had so many responses and all of the entries were extremely colourful and creative.
It was very difficult to choose the winners as all of the entries were fantastic! Please view the winners of the colouring competition below:
Fancy winning an Easter egg?! Barna Recycling has created a colourful Easter competition for your school. There is a chance for 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize in each category.The best out of the bunch will win themselves an Easter egg!
