Potential entrepreneurs in Cork who are interested in setting up in business using what someone else considers waste as raw materials, should attend at the Lifetime Lab in Cork City on Thursday 21st October from 10am to 12.45pm when rx3, a Department of the Environment, Heritage & Local Government initiative to rethink, recycle and remake recyclable waste into new products, will identify opportunities for reprocessing waste materials here in Ireland, creating new businesses and new jobs.
Places are free of charge but are limited, so potential entrepreneurs and delegates must register by emailing info@rx3.ie or lo-calling 1890 732925 or logging onto www.rx3.ie.
“We need to rethink the way we think about waste and start to see it as a positive and lucrative resource that has the potential to create hundreds of long-term and local jobs throughout Ireland,” says John Gormley, Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, sponsor of rx3. “Hundreds of people in Ireland are already making money, remaking waste into new products that people want to buy and there is potential to create new jobs and viable industries. Some of the people who are already creating jobs out of waste will be in attendance in Cork on the 21st October to tell their story and to give advice and support to those who are interested in thinking about creating a job for themselves and maybe others, in Ireland. Rx3’s event is a unique networking opportunity and anyone interested in creating a job for themselves here at home, should make it their business to attend on the 21st.”
A business mentor specialising in SME start-up and growth projects will speak at the Cork rx3 Network; potential entrepreneurs will also learn from case studies by local Cork companies in the remaking waste industries and there will be environmental consultants from rx3 on hand to advise on materials and markets that are available and could be developed into potential new jobs and industries. There will also be opportunities to network and forge links with many experts and relevant people who can provide ongoing advice to new entrepreneurs.
The rx3 Network event is open to entrepreneurs or anybody who just has an idea about creating a local industry in Ireland out of waste materials. Those involved in agriculture, horticulture, retail, construction, industry, academics, local authorities, SMEs and investors will also find the rx3 Networks event relevant and worthwhile attending.
“In 2008 approximately 78% (1.4 million tonnes) of non hazardous waste collected in Ireland’s green and brown bins was exported abroad for reprocessing into new products, including paper, cardboard, plastics, aluminium cans, steel food tins, organic waste, ferrous metals, textiles and glass. Instead, some of this material could have been turned into quality products and jobs at home here in Ireland and rx3 is showing people how,” says Fred McDarby from Enterprise Ireland.
Already in Ireland there are many businesses who are using waste as their raw materials, such as:
* Shabra Plastics in Co Monaghan who make food containers, long-life shopping bags and paper boutique bags, from waste materials sourced in Ireland.
* Carbery Plastics in Clonakilty, Co Cork who are turning plastic into coal bunkers, buckets and rubbish bins.
* WF Recycling in Cork who are preparing plastic milk bottles and food packaging waste for reprocessing by other factories.
* Erin Horticulture, based in Co Offaly, who are creating peat, compost and hanging basket liners from organic waste and paper for the export market,
* Athy Ecoslate in Co Kildare who are manufacturing roof slates from polypropylene used in the car industry, such as from bumpers and dashboards.