Revised regulations on decorative paints and solvents were published on January 1st 2013. Re-sprayers and dry cleaners are required by law to register with their local authority, and have their premises inspected to ensure that they use appropriate products, dispose of waste in an appropriate manner and take measures to protect the environment. Commenting on … Read more
O2 will pilot Ireland’s first mobile phone handset sold without a charger with the launch of the HTC One X+. The initiative is aimed at reducing waste and lowering the environmental impact of new phones. The pilot is a partnership with HTC and will see O2 selling the forthcoming One X+ handset without a charger … Read more
A major reform of the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) which aims to cut fishing to sustainable stock levels, end dumping at sea, and base long-term planning on sound scientific data, has been approved by the European Parliament. Overfishing is widely seen as the worst failure of the current CFP, dating from 2002. The new … Read more
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has published five new research studies which explore diverse issues within climate change, ranging from economy wide mitigation options to regional and local adaptation needs. Laura Burke, EPA Director General, says: “The EPA’s climate change research programme has successfully focussed resources to investigate priority issues related to Ireland’s response to … Read more
The preliminary findings of a €5 million EU INTERREG IVA-funded geological project to map the environment and natural resources of the border region of Ireland have been unveiled. The data have the potential to offer widespread environmental and economic benefits across many sectors including environmental management, agriculture, planning, renewable energy and mineral exploration. The Tellus … Read more
A consortium of companies with expertise in hydrogen transport infrastructure are to begin work on the three year LHNE (London Hydrogen Network Expansion) project, a government-backed initiative co-funded by the Technology Strategy Board to create the UK’s first hydrogen powered transport system across London and the South East. The consortium, led by Air Products, will … Read more
Toyota Motor Europe (TME) is again in the lead in Europe with the lowest fleet-wide C02 emissions in 2011 following figures published by the European Commission and European Environment Agency. Fleet-wide C02 emissions for TME stand at 109.3 g/km, a decrease of 3 g/km since 2010 and 19 g/km ahead of the TME specific European … Read more
A new generation of ‘green’ biomaterials are to be sourced from the Atlantic Ocean by a team of scientists across Europe. As part of the project, two research groups based at the National University of Ireland Galway have received funding of over €0.5 million to investigate the potential use of such marine materials for applications … Read more
Smile Resource Exchange is the delighted recipient of the Local Authority Members Association Award for ‘Best Eco-Friendly Initiative’ having best met the award criteria of encouraging environmental improvement, awareness and positive promotion within the community. SMILE was recognised for making the business community more aware of eco-friendly procedures, such as the exchanging of resources in … Read more
The total number of new residential and commercial buildings recorded across the country in of 2012 was 12,541 according to new figures released by GeoDirectory. The figures represent a year on year increase of 2% compared to 2011, when 12,237 new buildings were added to the database, and a drop of 87% compared to the … Read more