JumbleTown Ireland - View Single Post - Re-purposing plus Are you recycle mad?

Chris P · **Posted: 07-06-2008 , 03:31 PM** #4

Hi ozieandros,

You certainly are setting a good example for all. Your composting tips (not to mention your glove sculptures) should inspire more people to live in a "greener" fashion. Also, thanks for helping to spread the word about JumbleTown. Much appreciated!

As I've mentioned on several other threads, JumbleTown was devised in 2003 but work commitments meant that it didn't go "live" till 2006. The impetus then was an OECD report which stated that Ireland produced more waste per capita than any other developed nation in the world, including the USA. In recent years, however, we are increasing our levels of recycling but the dearth of recycling infrastructure in Ireland means that “83% of the waste in Ireland collected for recycling or recovery is necessarily exported.” (Source: Dept of the Environment Press Release, 28/4/08.) . More importantly, Ireland's levels of life-cycling or re-use (which is what JumbleTown is really about) remain pitifully low. Although JumbleTown has almost 20,000 registered Members, many areas of the country are still under-represented, even if we take into account demographics and levels of urbanisation. The message is getting out there but more needs to be done.

The "Race Against Waste" motto is "Reduce, Re-use, Recycle" neatly sums up the green ranking of each of these activities. Recycling is important but the first two activities are obviously better. Last week, a press release from the Dept of the Environment showed that we are making good progress in the amount of waste electronic and electrical waste (WEEE) that we send for recycling instead of to landfill. It seems that 1.3 million large domestic appliances have been recycled since August 2005.

Details here:
http://www.environ.ie/en/Environment...y,17498,en.htm

Of course, not all of this material exported from Ireland (and indeed other countries) to be recycled ends up being recycled properly. (It's JumbleTown's view that most of these items are prematurely recycled in the first place. But recycling makes money and is big business whereas life-cycling doesn't and isn't!) Please see this thread:
http://www.jumbletown.ie/forums/showthread.php?t=4528

The Dept of the Environment's recent press release also stated that greater levels of re-use/life-cycling need to be attained. Apparently the WEEE Ireland group and ERP (European Recycling Platform) are going to provide €3 million to the Local Authorities for re-use activities. "This capital investment will be used to provide weather cover infrastructure at local authority civic amenity facilities, which will ensure that deposited WEEE at these facilities is protected from the elements. This...will facilitate greater reuse of old appliances."

Thanks for starting this thread, ozieandros, and keep up the good work.

Regards
Chris P
Admin

	Posted: 07-06-2008 , 03:31 PM #4
Chris P Administrator Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: JumbleTown Posts: 5,998	from Admin Hi ozieandros, You certainly are setting a good example for all. Your composting tips (not to mention your glove sculptures) should inspire more people to live in a "greener" fashion. Also, thanks for helping to spread the word about JumbleTown. Much appreciated! As I've mentioned on several other threads, JumbleTown was devised in 2003 but work commitments meant that it didn't go "live" till 2006. The impetus then was an OECD report which stated that Ireland produced more waste per capita than any other developed nation in the world, including the USA. In recent years, however, we are increasing our levels of recycling but the dearth of recycling infrastructure in Ireland means that “83% of the waste in Ireland collected for recycling or recovery is necessarily exported.” (Source: Dept of the Environment Press Release, 28/4/08.) . More importantly, Ireland's levels of life-cycling or re-use (which is what JumbleTown is really about) remain pitifully low. Although JumbleTown has almost 20,000 registered Members, many areas of the country are still under-represented, even if we take into account demographics and levels of urbanisation. The message is getting out there but more needs to be done. The "Race Against Waste" motto is "Reduce, Re-use, Recycle" neatly sums up the green ranking of each of these activities. Recycling is important but the first two activities are obviously better. Last week, a press release from the Dept of the Environment showed that we are making good progress in the amount of waste electronic and electrical waste (WEEE) that we send for recycling instead of to landfill. It seems that 1.3 million large domestic appliances have been recycled since August 2005. Details here: http://www.environ.ie/en/Environment...y,17498,en.htm Of course, not all of this material exported from Ireland (and indeed other countries) to be recycled ends up being recycled properly. (It's JumbleTown's view that most of these items are prematurely recycled in the first place. But recycling makes money and is big business whereas life-cycling doesn't and isn't!) Please see this thread: http://www.jumbletown.ie/forums/showthread.php?t=4528 The Dept of the Environment's recent press release also stated that greater levels of re-use/life-cycling need to be attained. Apparently the WEEE Ireland group and ERP (European Recycling Platform) are going to provide €3 million to the Local Authorities for re-use activities. "This capital investment will be used to provide weather cover infrastructure at local authority civic amenity facilities, which will ensure that deposited WEEE at these facilities is protected from the elements. This...will facilitate greater reuse of old appliances." Thanks for starting this thread, ozieandros, and keep up the good work. Regards Chris P Admin