CRNI - Community Recycling Network of Ireland

Golden anniversary for reuse on FreeTrade Ireland with 50,000 items in new homes!

Andy Wilson — Tue, 08 May 2012 10:51:06 +0000

Easons might not be happy but one FreeTradeIreland.ie user has started themselves a library for FREE this morning when they stocked up on 50 top quality books. The free trader bagged themselves popular reads from the Harry Potter and Northern Lights ranges and helped FreeTrade Ireland to reach its golden anniversary of 50,000 items reused.

FreeTrade Ireland is a community initiative, promoted by local authorities around the country and has been in operation nationally since July 2010. With over 41,000 users the free online service has helped to divert items weighing an estimated 1 million kg away from landfill through reuse.The service has saved its users an estimated €5.1 million through skip hire costs avoided and in savings to new owners who no longer needed to purchase a new item.

“We are thrilled with the success of the website and salute all our users who have found new homes for the 50,000 items free traded and helped to save 50,000 other users the costs involved in buying new items.” says Warren Phelan, Website Manager “FreeTradeIreland.ie is a simple concept that provides cost effective resource management to both the people of Ireland and the Local Authorities”

For newbies to the FreeTradeIreland.ie service it is free and easy to use. If you have a usable unwanted item then it belongs on FreeTrade Ireland where it can find a new home within minutes. Households and businesses can save on the hassle of lugging the item to local recycling centre or the cost of hiring a skip, while helping out someone that wants the item. If you are interested in an item posted on the website simply contact the person advertising the item and find out more.

It’s a win-win situation and it’s all FREE!

“The high quality of items on the website has been astonishing. We have had people offering mobile homes, pianos, music systems as well as office filing systems, sofas and beds and even a fully fitted kitchen.” says Hugh Coughlan, spokesperson for FreeTradeIreland.ie “This service can literally save user’s thousands of euros as well as reducing pollution on the environment.”

The FreeTrade Ireland team will host a series of reuse days at recycling centres across the country in coming months. To find out more about using the service visit www.freetradeireland.ie, send an email to info@freetradeireland.ie or why not pop in to FreeTrade Ireland Facebook page to find out what the item of the day is!

Europe’s GPP target missed

Andy Wilson — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 08:53:12 +0000

The EU did not meet a green public procurement target (GPP) set for 2010, a new study has shown. Only 26% of the contracts examined – the last document signed by 856 public bodies in 2009/10 – included all of the EU’s core GPP criteria.
The goal, set in 2008, was for half of all public tendering procedures to comply with a core set of GPP criteria developed for ten key product groups.
Although the target was not met, the study found that public bodies had “gone a long way” toward improving purchasing practices with 55% incorporating at least one of the core criteria into their last contract of the year. It said there had also been a marked improvement in general practice over 2009/10.
The situation varied between countries; four member states – Belgium, Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands – included all core criteria in 40-60% of their last contracts, while another 12 used all of them in less than 20% of cases. Compliance was higher for transport and office computing purchases than for other types of goods.
The study also found that the majority of buyers still base their procurement decisions on purchase price and not the life-cycle costs or total cost of owning the product.
The EU executive is currently consulting on its future approach to GGP as part of a wider review of sustainable consumption and production policies.

You can find the study here.

Textile Exchange Guide

Andy Wilson — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 08:47:02 +0000

TEXAS – Textile Exchange has published a guide which aims to draw attention to the growing amount of textile waste generated each year in North America and the UK.
The FastFacts guide on Textile and Product Waste provides those in the industry with an overview of the key facts and statistics about waste, recycling and consumption. The figures suggest that more than 12 million tons of textile waste are generated in North America and one million tons in the UK alone every year. In addition, the guide claims that 10-20% of all textiles in the fashion industry are estimated to be wasted while 15% of fabric intended for clothing ends up on the cutting room floor.
There is also a ‘who’s who’ guide to waste and recycling and a look at look at what brands are doing to combat the problem.
Examples used include Klattermusen, of Sweden, which has launched the program rECOver that allows its used products to be returned to retailers, for cash; Mammut, which is providing collection boxes in its stores in Switzerland and partnering with a collector who is sorting the products and reusing or recycling them as much as they can; and M&S and Oxfam who have been developing a cloth exchange program which, since 2008, has collect over 2,500 tonnes of clothing which are put to reuse or recycled.
“If, as architect and product designer, William McDonough, says, ‘Waste equals food’, then we’re missing a huge opportunity to create new products from this food,” Textile Exchange says. “With the advent of Eco-Indices, the focus on end-of-life issues and solutions is growing steadily. In living with our vision of restoring the environment and enhancing lives, we invite you to download a FastFacts guide on Textile and Product Waste.”
CLICK HERE to download the guide

Furniture and Home Accessories Fair

Andy Wilson — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 07:43:28 +0000

The Community Reuse Network were delighted to participate in the Furniture and Home Accessories Fair in the RDS. The event was a huge success for all involved and the CRN were ideally located in the centre of the show where we had the opportunity to talk to delegates about upcycling and reuse. BusyBees held two demonstrations of upcycling each day which attracted much attention. The CRN would like to thank both its members, stakeholders, the organisers and the public for their support at the event and look forward to forming new relationships with those who we met over the last weekend.

Irish Furniture Fair

Andy Wilson — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 10:03:02 +0000

The CRN are delighted to be participating in The Irish Furniture and Home Accessories Fair in the RDS from the 25th-27th March. The Furniture & Home Accessories Show 2012 will be Ireland’s largest furniture & interiors trade event with hundreds of new products from Irish and overseas exhibitors. In association with the events organisers the CRN will be hosting the Green Design Lounge . This feature highlights more sustainable ways of doing business by showcasing the services provided by the Network. Drop into the lounge and experience great examples of furniture and homewares up-cycling in Ireland. You can find out more about the event here: www.irishfurniturefair.com

Wrap report: A methodology for quantifying the environmental and economic impacts of reuse

Andy Wilson — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 14:46:42 +0000

WRAP has developed a specific methodology for quantifying the impacts of reusing products. This can be applied to a range of products using an accompanying excel-based tool to provide a consistent means of assessing the impacts of different activities.
The key characteristics of the methodology include guidance on
- system boundaries;
- product lifetimes and displacement effects of reuse;
- allocation of environmental or economic impacts to different parts of the supply chain;
- use of costs and prices, and;
- jobs and labour costs.
You can find the full report here.

CRN members feature on Eco Eye

Andy Wilson — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 13:29:05 +0000

The Community Reuse Network was delighted to see both Rehab Recycling and The Rediscovery Centre featured on a recent Eco Eye episode. Originally aired on the 14th February, you can watch the programme here.

National Waste Report 2010

Andy Wilson — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 12:57:54 +0000

The Environmental Protection Agency today published the National Waste Report 2010 which showed a 5% reduction in household waste figures from 2009 numbers despite an overall increase in population. However, the report also highlights that 29% of occupied houses did not avail of, or were offered, a waste collection service. Municipal waste going to landfill has also reduced by 13% from 2009 figures and the UK remains the primary destination for recyclables from Ireland. The full report can be found here.

New programme paves the way for innovative thinking

Andy Wilson — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 11:19:06 +0000

The European Commission has put forward a proposal to develop a new instrument – the Programme for Social Change and Innovation (PSCI) – which will support employment and social policies throughout the EU.
The new programme will be used to help tackle some of the EU’s most pressing issues, such as high unemployment rates, poverty and social exclusion, and the ageing population.

The PSCI will integrate three existing Commission-managed programmes: PROGRESS, the programme for employment and social solidarity; EURES, which delivers European employment services; and the European Progress Micro-finance Facility.

Bringing these three instruments together under one umbrella will increase their effectiveness and allow the Commission to improve policy coherence across the board. The new-set up will also ensure that employment and social policies make an even greater contribution to Europe 2020, the EU’s overarching strategy for economic growth.

In addition to strengthening policy coordination, capacity building and the sharing of best practice, the PSCI will make it possible to test innovative actions. The ultimate aim is for the most successful of these pilots to be “up-scaled” and receive financial backing from the European Social Fund (ESF), which provides finance to projects that support employment and social integration in the regions.

Further information can be found here http://tiny.cc/iwq9q.

Changes to EU Funding proposed

Andy Wilson — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 11:24:30 +0000

Sweeping changes to rules on EU funding proposed by the European Commission should make it easier for green projects to apply for support, it says. The new rules would also introduce standard environmental requirements across all funding schemes.
The commission has come up with more than 120 changes to EU funding rules since drawing up its proposals for the next long-term budget in the summer. These changes were brought together in a single policy document published on Wednesday.
The idea is to “make the access procedure to those funds less like a maze and more user-friendly,” budget commissioner Janusz Lewandowski said. This includes, for example, cutting the number of days it takes to get a research grant from 350 to 100.
The conditions attached to funding would also be standardised and a requirement to deliver additional environmental benefits inserted into all the EU’s main funding programmes, including cohesion, research and innovation and rural development.
Implementing the plan will require changes to 57 sector-specific pieces of legislation, including the Life+ programme. This must be done by the end of next year to ensure the new rules come into force with the new budget in 2014, the commission says.
The full press release can be found here http://tiny.cc/t4s7t