Vintners and hotels are among the worst offenders when it comes to packaging recycling.

GIY Ireland is a non-profit charity with over 150,000 members. Its aim is to help people grow their own vegetables.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is prosecuting Shell E&P Ireland for breaching its emissions license at the Corrib gas refinery in north Mayo.

The latest issue of EPA News - July 2016 - is now available online.

The State collected a record �4.9bn in so-called environmental taxes last year.

Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government Simon Coveney has announced the appointment of four non-executive board members to Irish Water�s parent company Ervia.

Ireland has jumped 10 places into the top ten countries in a global innovation ranking.

Chambers Ireland and the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry last week (4 July 2016) announced a strengthening of cooperation between the two organisations, which represent the all-island business community.

ESB has hired a senior official from the energy regulator�s office who was involved in monitoring the activities of the company and its industry peers.

The European Commission has named Circular Ocean - which includes Cork's Macroom E as a partner - among the finalists in the RegioStars Awards 2016, which honour Europe's most notable and innovative projects supported by Cohesion Policy Funds.

HEINEKEN Ireland, a leading beer and cider company, has published its sustainability report for 2015, demonstrating that sustainability is embedded throughout the business and is a key growth driver.

Although no solar farms have yet been built in the Republic, a handful of projects have been granted planning permission.

Ireland and other EU member states face onerous climate and energy efficiency policy targets.

Irish wholesale gas prices have fallen 28% year-on-year, according to a market report published by Vayu Energy.

Irish developer Gaelectric has opened its 4MW Roosky wind farm in Roscommon.

Antrim based Okotech Limited is capitalising on consumer drive for energy efficient heating solutions with its innovative heating control system, heatboss, winning new business in the North and in GB.

Irish Water, working in partnership with Dublin City Council, has announced it has signed a �8 million contract to upgrade the Drinking Water Sludge Treatment Facility at Ballymore Eustace Water Treatment Plant.

Mayo has just emerged from one of the wettest winters ever recorded and thankfully has turned a corner and summer is here. Many people are taking advantage of improved weather conditions to catch up on some spraying (or weed control activities).

Irish Water has announced details of a �1.25 million project which will directly benefit businesses and residents in Sligo Town to improve water pressure and secure the water supply.

Works to develop the �9 million wastewater treatment plant in Belmullet town are due to begin this week.

Irish Water in partnership with Wicklow County Council, is carrying out a programme of maintenance work on 10 reservoirs across County Wicklow.

Irish Water has announced that work on the �500,000 North Quay Water Main Project in Drogheda are to commence on Monday, 11 July.

Minister of State for the Office of Public Works and Flood Relief Sean Canney TD officially opened the new offices of water and waste water solutions company Glan Agua Limited and civil engineering company MEIC Limited in Loughrea last week.

The Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) has published the Irish Water Performance Assessment for consultation.

The former chairman of the Labour Court�Kevin Duffy is to be appointed as the Chairman of the Expert Commission on Water Charges.

Government efforts to defuse the marathon row over water charges have been dealt yet another blow.

Northern Ireland Infrastructure Minister Chris Hazzard has instructed NI Water to cease any further installation of water meters in domestic properties while legislation is brought to the Assembly.

SeaScience, an educational app developed by the Ryan Institute at NUI Galway in partnership with Galway City Museum, has now been launched.

60,000 visitors flocked to SeaFest, Ireland's national maritime festival (June 30 - July 3) to enjoy an action-packed programme centred on Galway Harbour.

Construction of a �17 million pedestrian and cycle bridge over the Liffey has been put on hold for at least 15 months because of uncertainty over the Dart Underground.

A major investigation has been launched after medical waste including tablets, urine specimen bottles, and used syringes - some clearly displaying the names of patients - washed up on the shores of Cork harbour.

The ESRI has established a new Environment Research Programme in partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Andrew Doyle, TD, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine with responsibility for forestry, last week presented the 2016 Third Level Student Wood Awards at a ceremony in the National Botanic Gardens in Dublin.

The Department of Transport, Tourism & Sport wishes to remind road users that from the 1st of July 2016, the maximum national regulatory weight laden limit for articulated vehicle combinations comprising of a two axle tractor unit towing a three axle semi-trailer on Irish roads will revert to a 40 tonne maximum weight limit.

IFA Environment Chairman Thomas Cooney has received confirmation from the Department of Agriculture that the mitigation potential from Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry, particularly from afforestation, continues to be included in the ongoing negotiations with the European Commission for a Climate and Energy Framework to 2030.

Weedkillers and pesticides facing license renewal in the coming months are expected the receive the same high levels of scrutiny as glyphosate, it has been warned.

Leading recycling rewards scheme provider Greenredeem has last week published the most compelling evidence yet that incentivizing households to recycle can boost recycling rates and curb waste levels.

England�s first action plan designed to increase the quantity and quality of household and commercial food waste collected and recycled, was launched last wee at the ADBA Conference in Birmingham.�

As a ban on the production and use of plastic bags came into effect across Morocco on Friday, 1st July, green campaigners say that the country's consumers may need years to fully comply with the new law.

Cities across Europe must step up their adaptation efforts if they are to handle the increasingly complex challenges caused by climate change such as more extreme flooding or prolonged heatwaves.

The summer sea ice cover over the Arctic raced towards oblivion in June, crashing through previous records to reach a new all-time low.

Paris has banned cars registered before 1997 from travelling in the city center during the day, the latest in a string of measures aimed at tackling the city�s air pollution, city officials said last week.

An Information Day on the Horizon 2020 'Smart, green and integrated transport' will take place on Wednesday, 28 September 2016.

The Schaeffler Bio-Hybrid concept vehicle combines pedal-power and electric drive, and is being billed as a solution for future urban transport.

The latest issue of BUILD UP News-Alert - the European portal for energy efficiency in buildings - is now available online.

The latest issue of ISOfocus - July-August 2016 - is now available online.

In the European Union (EU), resource productivity increased to 2.00 �/kg in 2015 from 1.48 �/kg in 2000, an increase of 35.4% in real terms.

Plastic dumped into the seas around the UK is carried to the Arctic within two years, scientists have revealed, where it does �extreme harm� to the fragile polar environment.

Marine Litter Vital Graphics, highlights why it is important to act now if we want to avoid living in a sea of plastic by mid-century. Though short-term fixes do exist, any lasting solution to the problem of plastic pollution must include tackling it as its source.

For the second Phase 2 cut-off in 2016 on 15 June, EASME received 1,189 project proposals from 35 countries.

The deadline to submit applications for the Horizon 2020 SME Innovation Associate pilot programme has now passed - 192 proposals have been received from SMEs who seek support in hiring researchers to help them explore breakthrough innovations.

On 30 June 2016, the Council and the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement on a directive to reduce emissions of air pollutants.

Ammonia emissions in Europe have fallen since 1990, but by not as much as emissions of other air pollutants tracked under an internationally agreed United Nations convention.

Danish wind turbine manufacturer Vestas has announced that its multi-rotor concept wind turbine has generated its first kWh.

Customers of Centrica-owned British Gas who have had smart meters installed in Britain will be offered free electricity on either Saturdays or Sundays.

A new, tougher, A to G scale showing the energy efficiency of household appliances should be introduced, to keep pace with technological progress, said MEPs voting on an EU Commission proposal last week.

The European Commission has launched three Horizon Prizes to encourage innovation and find solutions to challenges in the area of energy.

Advances in nanomaterials hold the promise of new, better, more competitive products.

One of the world's largest floating offshore wind turbines set sail last week from Osaka Bay in Japan and is currently on its way to a site off the coast of Fukushima.