Waste Management policy in Ireland is determined by EU and National Legislation and is becoming more complex. Each year Irish industry is under increasing pressure to achieve higher standards of waste management compliance and contribute towards Ireland's ambitious recycling targets.

Greenstar, Ireland's largest integrated waste management company, is setting a new standard in the Waste Management Industry - not only offering cost effective solutions and legal compliance, but a one-stop-service to manage the range of waste-streams across Irish business and consumer sectors.

The company is committed to providing innovative solutions to waste management needs and to developing its product portfolio in order to provide first-to-market waste solutions. As part of this new service strategy, Greenstar is delighted to announce the launch of a commercial first-to-market nationwide WEEE Self Compliance Service for producers who have chosen not to become members of WEEE Ireland.

WEEE Self Compliance Service
Greenstar operates a specialised electronics recycling and recovery programme at its EPA licenced facility in Greenogue, Co. Dublin. The facility operates to both ISO9001 and ISO14001 standards. The facility is certified to manage waste electronics under the WEEE Directive and is licenced to process 95,000 tonnes per annum.

The Greenstar service includes -

• Collection of all computer and electronic equipment.
• All materials weighed before and after processing.
• Secure destruction of hard drives and other confidential information.
• Recovery of precious metal from Printed Circuit Boards (PCB’s).
• Process all electronic equipment in an environmentally suitable manner.
• Identifying markets for different materials.
• Materials sent to specialist recyclers for recovery of both precious and non-precious metals.
• Issue certificates of destruction and recycling/recovery.
• Value return to client for specific materials.
• Compliant with WEEE directive.
• Diverts both hazardous and non hazardous material away from landfill.
• Nationwide collection programmes.
• Flexible solution provider for clients' recycling needs.
• Establishing strong relationships with exclusively certified partners and brokers worldwide.

Greenstar can also organise - by special arrangement - for white goods to be collected on behalf of their corporate clients. White goods are bulky household items that are traditionally white in colour - such as fridges, freezers, washing machines, tumble driers, dishwashers, microwaves and cookers.

Recent legislation in Ireland has deemed that White Goods are not accepted for disposal at landfill. Certain white goods, such as fridges and freezers, are classified as hazardous waste and must be disposed of appropriately at their end of life. White goods contain certain chemicals and pollutants that can have detrimental effects on the environment if not handled properly. At present, all white goods must be exported for recycling.

The recycling of white goods will avoid issues with pollution, and will save energy and natural resources. It will also reduce volume to landfill. Main components from appliances that are recycled include:

• Fibreglass
• Glass
• Ferrous Metal
• Non-ferrous Metal
• Plastics.

As market leader, Greenstar works with its customers providing extensive industry experience and best practice environmental expertise in order to develop fully integrated waste management systems and provide services and infrastructure at each level of the waste management hierarchy.

Placing more emphasis on the hierarchy is the key to Ireland's success in waste management.

Prevention and Minimisation
Greenstar sponsors research and is working with local authorities and educational institutions to increase awareness and influence behavior in the area of waste minimisation and conservation of resources. Greenstar is also proud to be the lead sponsor of Green-Schools - the EU-wide schools environmental awareness programme - aimed at school children of all ages.

Re-use and Recycling
Greenstar is Ireland's leading recycling company with operations and facilities located nationwide. The company plans to further develop a number of waste transfer stations and material recovery facilities (MRFs), strategically placed around the country, separating recyclables and reusable materials, while developing recycling infrastructure to handle the processing of recyclable materials.

Biological Treatment
Greenstar has developed and is commissioning new technology for the biological treatment of organic waste - i.e., composting and anaerobic digestion. The company intends to develop a number of composting and AD facilities throughout the country and is currently running a composting pilot project in Co. Kildare. Greenstar also works with local authorities in promoting and providing home composting units to local communities and vermi-composting units to schools.

Composting is a cost effective and natural method for “recycling” waste organic materials into a fertiliser and soil conditioner for land. Greenstar offers a comprehensive range of composting services to treat organic waste streams.

It is a cost effective alternative for treating organic waste streams as it reduces the volume of organic waste going to landfills, while providing a nutrient or engineering material for a variety of environmental purposes.

The company also offers an Anaerobic Digestion (AD) service to treat biowastes such as - sewage sludge, organic farm wastes, municipal biowastes and other industrial organic and food wastes. AD differs from composting in that it treats organic materials in the absence of air/oxygen (anaerobic) in a reactor, whereas composting works in the presence of air/oxygen (aerobic). AD is also used for ‘wetter’ waste streams than composting and has been used for over 150 years to create biogas from biowastes.

Residual Disposal
Greenstar plans to develop a network of regional residual landfill sites that will accept treated residual waste from recycling and recovery operations for its safe disposal. The company currently owns and operates two state-of-the-art EPA licenced landfill sites in Kilcullen, Co. Kildare (KTK and Knockharley, Co. Meath).

Greenstar's current range of services include -

Greenstar's contribution is to work in partnership with its customers, its employees, industry and the public sector in order to deliver the change necessary to meet EU legislative requirements in a legal and professional manner. The company has an expert team of staff with experience in recycling and recovery, biological treatment, residual landfill management, engineering, environmental impact assessment, business development and communications. With this knowledge, Greenstar will set the standard.

For more detailed information about Greenstar - Click here