April 15th, 2019 Concerns have been raised about a new plastic-fighting initiative by Lidl Ireland that campaigners say may cause confusion over what plastics that can be recycled. Last week, the supermarket chain unveiled new in-store recycling bins for its customers to dispose of their excess plastic waste. The move Read more…
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 Read more…
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. Read more…
January 15th, 2019 While welcoming a new scheme to encourage fishermen to clean up our seas, conservation groups have warned that much more is needed to tackle the level of waste produced by the fishing industry itself. Last week, the Minister for the Marine Michael Creed TD launched the Clean Read more…
December 10th, 2018 Concentrated levels of microplastics are more likely to be found in sewage sludge commonly applied as a fertiliser than in our oceans, according to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA). A new assessment from the Agency has identified several diverse sources from which microplastics are entering the environment, Read more…
December 8th, 2018 While legislation to tackle plastic waste increases globally, microplastic pollution remains an overlooked problem, a new UN report has revealed. The new report Legal Limits on Single-Use Plastics and Microplastics found that, despite a rise in bans on plastic bags, other single-use plastic products such as microbeads Read more…
October 5th, 2018 The Minister for the Environment is set to push for a ban on single-use plastic items across the public sector. Speaking at the Environment Ireland conference yesterday, Denis Naughten TD said that extra attention will now go toward fighting the “proliferation of single-use plastics” across Ireland. A Read more…
October 5th, 2018 Local campaigners against a proposed plastic factory in Skibbereen have called for a speedy decision from An Bord Pleanála (ABP) on their appeal of the factory’s planning permission. The planning authority had initially scheduled July 28 as the official date to issue their final decision, but it Read more…
September 25th, 2018 The onus on ending the use of non-recyclable plastics must be placed squarely at the door of producers and supermarkets “pushing” plastics on consumers, the Social Democrats have warned. The call from the party’s climate spokesperson, Councillor Cian O’Callaghan, comes after the launch of Repak’s Plastic Packaging Recycling Read more…
September 6th, 2018 Taxing non-recyclable plastics will only work if both consumer and producer behaviour towards plastic consumption change, a new study has found. The study, carried out by the New Economics Foundation for the Rethink Plastic Alliance, shows that while taxation would increase recycling rates in Europe, increased production Read more…