June 3rd, 2020 We were all caught off guard by the Covid-19 pandemic, and the plastics industry was no different. The industry had invested in a large number of plants and planned to increase supply this year, so the current dramatic drop in demand for oil and plastics has come as a shock. It’s no […]
February 21st, 2020 A new act to ban the manufacture and sale of cosmetics and personal care products containing microbeads entered into law yesterday. The Microbeads Act 2019 prohibits the manufacture or placing on the market of cosmetics, personal care products, household and industrial cleaning products that contain plastic microbeads. The Act also bans the […]
The Government looks set to push forward with a series of new environmental levies to encourage behavioural change and bring in additional funding to tackle waste blackspots. Speaking this morning, the Minister for the Environment Richard Bruton TD announced a number of proposed levies to crackdown on single-use plastics, landfill and incineration use and takeaway […]
April 9th, 2019 A plastic-fighting initiative aimed at reducing supermarket-generated plastic rubbish has urged shoppers to participate in its second year of action. The new wave of the Sick of Plastic campaign’s shop and drop movement is set to kick off on April 13. The project encourages shoppers across Ireland to leave their excess plastic […]
March 19th, 2019 An Irish museum has called on the public to exchange their leftover plastic items from the St Patrick’s Day celebrations for free museum tickets to mark World Recycling Day. The Epic Irish Emigration Museum in Co Dublin is collecting plastic, green hats, leprechaun beards, tricolour boas and shamrock glasses for reuse. The […]
February 12th, 2019 Evidence of microplastics along the food chain is growing and is becoming a real cause for concern, an Oireachtas committee heard today. Speaking at a hearing on proposed microbeads legislation, Dr Kevin Lynch of the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) said microplastics are becoming a “significant problem” in Ireland. The Bill in question, […]
January 31st, 2019 The EU’s chemicals regulator has proposed a wide-ranging ban on microplastics that is expected to reduce 400,000 tonnes of microplastic pollution within 20 years. The ban, suggested by the European Chemical Agency (ECHA), is set to remove 36,000 tonnes of “intentionally added” microplastics from various products. Starting from 2020, the new limitations […]
January 28th, 2019 The Government has been accused of “time-wasting” by the Greens as it launches a new review to examine how to tackle plastic bottle pollution and meet ambitious upcoming EU targets on plastic pollution. This morning, the Minister for Climate Action and Environment Richard Bruton announced that our problem with the plastic bottle will […]
January 26th, 2019 A new Cork-based anti-plastic initiative has urged Mondelēz International, the producer of Cadbury chocolates, to stop packaging its products with single-use plastics. The Plastic Letters Project names one company that uses single-use plastic packaging each week and asks consumers to email a letter of complaints to that company. This week, the campaign targeted […]
January 21st, 2019 A local campaign group was granted leave this morning in the High Court to judicially review An Bord Pleanála’s (ABP) decision to grant planning permission for a plastic factory in Skibbereen, Co Cork. The case brought by the Save Our Skibbereen (SOS) campaign group court is now set to be heard on […]
