23/02/2004

Archived item. This item is published here for historical reasons. The information below may be out of date.

Race Against Business Waste – Cullen launches "Small Change" Programme

A Small Change in the way you manage your waste can yield big savings

"Burying your waste is like taking the cash from the drawer of the business till and emptying it into a hole in the ground," said the Minister for the Environment, Heritage & Local Government Mr. Martin Cullen TD today (23 February 2004) when he launched "Small Change", a nationwide programme to support small and medium sized businesses in their efforts to reduce and recycle their business waste.

"There are very compelling environmental reasons why business can no longer simply consign vast quantities of waste to landfill. But there are also important commercial reasons. Nobody involved in business would empty the contents of their cash till into a hole in the ground – but, in effect, that is what some businesses are doing by not managing their waste properly", said the Minister.

"Small Change" is part of the Race Against Waste campaign and has been developed in partnership with the Chambers of Commerce of Ireland. The CCI are immediately enlisting the support of their 12,000 members and the programme is also open to non-Chamber members. Under the programme,

• A Small Change Guide has been developed to provide practical advice and tips to help businesses reduce, reuse and recycle (see examples attached). It explains how to carry out a waste review and implement a plan of action, how to deal with a waste contractor and briefly outlines the waste legislation of most relevance to business. There are also case studies of companies all over the country who are saving money by recycling and composting their business waste. The guide is also available online at www.raceagainstwaste.com.

• Waste Management Seminars for business owners and managers are to be hosted by Chambers of Commerce around the country between March and June. Race Against Waste consultants will provide expert advice at the seminars while other businesses with well developed recycling practices will share their experiences.

• In addition, businesspeople can have their individual queries dealt with via the www.raceagainstwaste.com website, or through their local Chamber of Commerce, who will be liaising with the Race Against Waste project team.

"Waste in Ireland has now become one of the most pressing environmental issues. It affects us all and we all contribute to it. Producing too much waste and consigning it all to landfill is a waste of natural resources and is unsustainable," the Minister commented today. "Businesses have considerable legal obligations in relation to waste, particularly in terms of packaging. The Small Change guide provides simple steps that we can all take at work to manage our waste better. I believe in leading by example - in my Department's headquarters in the Custom House, we do simple things like printing on both sides of the page and buying only recycled stationery and products. In fact, by segregating paper waste, we saved nearly €20,000 in just one year", he said.

The Minister expressed his appreciation to the Chambers of Commerce of Ireland for their support in the development and roll-out of the "Small Change" programme. Other stakeholders, such as IBEC, the Small Firms Association, Enterprise Ireland, the Irish Waste Management Association and local authority Green Business Officers, have also been involved.

"By following the Small Change programme, you can make a big difference to your bottom line and, collectively, the business community can make a big difference for our environment", the Minister concluded.