Waste - Household Hazardous Waste

Some household items are actually very harmful to the environment if thrown into the black bin for land fill. Keep household paint, thinners, make-up, nail varnish, fluorescent tubes, light bulbs, old medicines, mobile phones, household batteries, car batteries, waste oils, ink cartridges etc. in a safe place and bring to the regular / periodic "Hazardous Household Waste Collection" organised by your local authority or to your local civic amenity centre (check first if it accepts the items you want to dispose of). Try to use less hazardous chemicals around the home because these all end in the environment in the air we breathe or the water we drink. Remember, you will drink the water that you are throwing chemicals into. Although water is treated it would be more effective if the water wasn’t originally contaminated when it came in.

Hazardous Waste Management in Ireland

Hazardous waste is generated by all sectors of Irish society, from large industry, to small businesses, households, schools and farms. It is for the most part managed by a professional hazardous waste industry and is treated appropriately and in accordance with legal requirements. Large quantities of hazardous waste are generated, and there is scope to reduce this generation of waste through waste prevention programmes. Around half of Irish hazardous waste is exported for treatment. There are some problems with so-called 'unreported' hazardous waste in Ireland, where small amounts of consumer hazardous waste are produced in households and small businesses and are inappropriately managed. The Environmental Protection Agency has prepared a revision of the National Hazardous Waste Management Plan to map out the improvements in hazardous waste management that could and/or should be made over the coming years.

This third Plan is a revision of the second Plan and will cover a period of six years from the date of publication (2014 - 2020).

The objectives of the revised Plan are:

• To prevent and reduce the generation of hazardous waste by industry and society generally;
• To maximise the collection of hazardous waste with a view to reducing the environmental and health impacts of any unregulated waste;
• To strive for increased self-sufficiency in the management of hazardous waste and to minimise hazardous waste export;
• To minimise the environmental, health, social and economic impacts of hazardous waste generation and management.