Pakman Awards Winner 2017 

The Pakman Awards seek to recognise complete excellence in the environmental approach taken by a business, organisation or community group in all aspects of their operations.

This year, the Pakman Awards judging panel was looking for measurable impacts across all elements of the waste hierarchy. This included reuse, reduction, recycling and waste minimisation alongside environmental management of food, water, energy and biodiversity. 2017 saw the highest number entries ever for the Pakman Awards which is a great achievement and testimony to the work of Repak.

Among the winners were LauraLynn Ireland’s Children’s Hospice which campaigned for people to recycle batteries by showing them that in doing so, they are truly making a difference to the hospice. You will find the full list of award winners below.

 Pakman Awards 2017 Winners List:

• The Pakman Award 2017, sponsored by Repak: Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTE) Overall Winner.
• Community Recycling Project of the Year Award 2017, sponsored by WEEE Ireland: Recycle IT
• Waste Collection Operator of the Year 2017, sponsored by the Irish Waste Management Association: Thorntons Recycling
• Waste Prevention Business of the Year 2017, sponsored by the EPA: Macroom E – Smile Resource Exchange
• Waste Collector of The Year Household 2017, sponsored by IWMA: Clean Ireland Recycling
• Waste Collection Operator of the Year Commercial Award 2017, sponsored by the Irish Waste Management Association: Thorntons Recycling
• Professional Services Award 2017, sponsored by Arthur Cox: Raidió Teilifís Éireann
• Innovation in Waste Management 2017, sponsored by Repak: Waste Matters Ireland
• Green Transport of the Year Award 2017 sponsored by AMCS: Matthews Coach Hire Ltd
• Food Waste Management Award 2017 sponsored by Department of Communications, Climate Action & Environment: Sligo University Hospital
• Environmental Education and Awareness Initiative 2017 sponsored by the Chartered Institute of Waste Management Ireland: ReCreate
• Business Recycling Champion 2017, sponsored by Repak: Lidl Ireland GmbH
• The Bring Centre of the Year 2017, sponsored by the Irish Waste Management Association: Galway City Council
• The Battery Champion Award sponsored by European Recycling Platform: LauraLynn Ireland’s Children’s Hospice

Awards Night Dublin, 26^th October 2016:

Recycle IT were named winner of the Community Recycling Project of the Year Award 2017, sponsored by WEEE Ireland.  The awards ceremony, which took place at the InterContinental Dublin Hotel, saw over 400 representatives from leading businesses, organisations and community groups come together to recognise excellence in recycling, energy and waste management.

On the evening, Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment Mr. Denis Naughten: spoke about the Repak Pakman Award and the waste management sector saying  “Your initiative in hosting these awards and the support of your sponsors is recognised by me as Minister and by this Government.

By honouring those organisations and leaders that go over and above their regulatory obligations to strive for excellence in the management of waste and recycling, you are playing a key part in the step change that is happening in our society.

The need to be smart with the resources we use is becoming more and more understood across the wider economy.  This has been reflected in the breadth and number of companies, organisations and individuals vying to be recognised for their efforts here this evening and rightly so. Our environment is complex and it is fragile. To survive in the twenty first century we must move-on from the model we have inherited from the industrial revolution. The challenge is not just to change what we do; it is to reimagine how we think. We must reconfigure our economic model from one based on consumption to one based on efficiency.  It is the efficiency of our economy that will determine the sustainability of our production and of our planet. Every one of us, in every community across the country, in every country across the world, has a role to play. No one can be done without”.

About Repak

Repak is a not for profit, for purpose company, established in 1997. Repak was created by Ireland’s recycling industry to help companies meet their legal obligation with packaging legislation.

Repak has over  2,200 members who are producers of packaging who places more than 10 tonnes of packaging onto the Irish market with a turnover of €1 million in the calendar year.

Repak’s fees are based on a pay-as-you-produce basis i.e. the more packaging placed on the market by a producer, the higher their fee. The fees paid to Repak by its members are used to subsidise the collection and recovery of waste packaging through registered recovery operators (the people who come and collect your rubbish for sorting and separation) across Ireland, so that the individual member companies are exempt from this requirement.

Companies in Ireland can join Repak, self-comply themselves or avoid the law altogether. Repak is approved under license by the Government to operate as a compliance scheme for packaging recycling. Since Repak was set up in 1997 packaging recycling and recovery in Ireland has grown from a very low base, under 15% to over 91% in 2016. Ireland is now one of the leading recycling countries in the EU for packaging recycling.

Repak has recycling targets set out by the Department for Communications, Climate Action and the Environment and the EU and has achieved and surpassed these year on year since its establishment.

About Recycle IT

Recycle IT is a friendly, needs driven recycler, recycling all types of waste electrical and electronic equipment. Collections are offered to homes, communities, educators and charities at no charge. Community engagement is achieved in many ways including building good relationships, offering door to door collections and providing people with real help in lifting and moving equipment.  Recycle IT engage young and old, charities and business and encourage reduce, reuse and recycle with the message reinforced through flyers, community events, workshops, newsletters, regular blog posts and recognition.

You can email Recycle IT here, call our team on 01 4578321 or visit our website www.recycleit.ie to get more information.

Change is good! 

Electric vans today!

Recycle IT are similar to most organisations requiring transport to get a job done meaning fossil fuel vans and trucks are used by our team to collect waste electrical equipment for recycling daily.  This is changing!  Now electric vehicles can do the same or similar work with the added benefit of helping reduce carbon emissions and create a cleaner, greener environment for all.

Today, there are more electric vans on for sale than ever before.  With no CO2  exhaust emissions  you can get tasks completed without contributing further to global warming. Electric vans are virtually noiseless with only faint high-pitched sound from the electric motor. Charging an electric van takes approx. eight hours for a full battery and can be quicker if rapid charging stations are installed and available. With vans now available in different sizes it’s time to plan a transport change?

Making the change!

Recent reports say the DHL Group and U.S. car manufacturer Ford have released a jointly manufactured a new electric delivery van. This van was developed to address the growing demand for emission friendly delivery and collection vehicles.  The van is branded the “StreetScooter WORK XL” and merges a Ford Transit chassis with an electric drivetrain designed for DHL, the worldwide logistics company.

This is the third and largest electric delivery van made by DHL, which began manufacturing its own vehicles after finding none that met its specifications. A further options includes the Nissan NV200 which is available for purchase in Ireland.

There is a plan to put 2,500 of the new electric vans on the roads in major cities by the end of 2018. These new van  are expected  to save 5 metrics tons (5.5 tons) of carbon dioxide each year. This initiative will also help address recent announcements by governments to remove petrol and diesel vehicles from the road by the middle of the century.

DHL has already started selling smaller models of it electrical vans to third parties and the StreetScooter WORK XL will also be available for purchase but no date has been announced.

Dublin based GoCar recently announced its GoElectric range, consisting of a fleet of up to 10 BMW i3 electric cars . This expansion of the GoCar fleet gives members the chance to  zip through Dublin in new and eco-friendly electric vehicles. It’s fair to say these car will probably be followed with electrical vans once demand grows!

Recycle IT would love to be in the same position as DHL and GoCar but as a not for profit social enterprise it may take a little time to transition from our current collection vans to newer and more eco-friendly electric models. One thing we can say is  “it’s on our wish list and with time we will make the wish come true”

About Recycle IT

Recycle IT is a not for profit social enterprise providing collection and drop off services for all types of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE).  During 2016 Recycle IT offered drop off and collection services to 100,000 homes, schools, charities and businesses across Dublin and surrounding areas collecting thousands of TV’s, cables, monitors, microwaves and washing machines.

Recycle IT services are provided in partnership with WEEE Ireland.  Recycle IT are supported by South Dublin County Council and authorized by the National Waste Collection Permit Office and the local authorities across Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow.

To learn more about Recycle IT call 01 4578321, email info@recycleit.ie or visit www.recycleit.ie

Recycle IT – Secure Funding for Facility Development

On July 26^th, 2017, Marie Duffin, Manager of Oakfield Trust handed over €7768.00 to Recycle IT, a community organisation and social enterprise offering electrical recycling services in Dublin and surrounding areas.

This presentation of match funding by Oakfield Trust follows a successful application by Recycle IT for Dormant Accounts Funding through the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. The combined funding (details below) will help increase recycling capacity and grow the numbers of people accessing employer based training to build skills for work.

Members of the Recycle IT board and staff team attended on the evening with Chairperson John McMackin expressing delight with the match funding contribution from Oakfield Trust.  John said, “this very generous support makes it possible to execute our plan to deliver community focused electrical recycling services, work experience and employment while also promoting a message of reduce, reuse and recycle.

Marie Duffin said “Oakfield Trust and its board members are pleased to support a fellow social enterprise enhance its operations which in turn supports local communities, employment and environmental goals.

Recycle IT board members in attendance to accept the cheque included, (left to right) Cecil Johnston, South Dublin County Partnership, John McMackin, DCU School of Business and Dermot Maguire, VHI.  Centrally pictured (left to right) is Marie Duffin, Manager of Oakfield Trust and Una Lavelle, Manager of Recycle IT.

About Recycle IT

Recycle IT is a not for profit social enterprise providing collection and drop off services for all types of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE).  During 2016 Recycle IT offered drop off and collection services to 100,000 homes, schools, charities and businesses across Dublin and surrounding areas collecting thousands of TV’s, cables, monitors, microwaves and washing machines.

Recycle IT services are provided in partnership with WEEE Ireland.  Recycle IT are supported by South Dublin County Council and authorized by the National Waste Collection Permit Office and the local authorities across Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow.

To view the full list of social enterprises funded from the Dormant Accounts Fund in 2017 please click here. Clondalkin Community Recycling Initiative T/A Recycle IT.

To learn more about Recycle IT call 01 4578321, email info@recycleit.ie or visit www.recycleit.ie