Community Spring Clean 2023

National Spring Clean is Ireland’s most popular, well-recognized and successful anti-litter and waste initiative. It takes place in April each year.  The campaign encourages all sectors of society to actively participate and take responsibility for litter and waste.

National Spring Clean has been operated by An Taisce since 1999 in partnership with the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment.

The size and scale of National Spring Clean events have grown steadily and significantly over the years. Taking part has real benefits for people including feeling good about supporting environmental activity, aiding practical clean-ups and increasing social interaction with people in your community.

In 2022, 5,640 events were arranged by registered groups. These events included local clean-ups nationwide and collected an estimated 2,800 tonnes of litter. As many as 500,000 volunteers participate in the Spring Clean which is a credit to all involved.

National Spring Clean 2023 aims to build on the progress and momentum from prior years to make 2023 the most successful April anti-litter campaign yet.

You can contact local resident associations, tidy town groups, schools, youth groups and other community groups as they usually get involved or organise events in your area.

Tips

Recycle IT have assembled some tips for organising a successful National Spring Clean event in your area! We can all do a little bit in our immediate area to make a difference. While involved stay safe, wear hi-vis, and gloves, follow guidelines and enjoy the company of others.

Time

• You will need time to organise your event. Start planning at least a few weeks in advance. Spring is the best time to do a cleanup – before grass and weeds have a chance to hide rubbish and litter and make retrieval more difficult.
• When you select a day or weekend for the cleanup, check with local community organisations and the local authority in your area to avoid any event conflict
• Arrange for the collection and disposal of the waste collected.

Planning

• A good plan will help your group set a direction and document the steps you need to take to organise the spring cleanup. Using an existing neighbourhood cleanup committee or forming a new group is a great way to get things done efficiently and build ownership at the same time.
• Use a Clean Up notebook to record names, numbers emails, dates and other important information. It’s good to document everything and maintain a clean-up file including photos. This can be used for grant applications and PR.
• Determine your “cleanup area” to get an idea of the support you will need. Use a map to coordinate teams and pickup routes. Records litter black spots and any locations requiring special tools or equipment to get the job done.
• Work to estimate the number of volunteers, assign tasks and develop a schedule.

Teaming

1. Remember letters or social media networks work well. If you do not know your neighbours, now is the right time to arrange Zoom or Whats-App calls. Introduce yourself and tell them what you would like to do. Do not ask for a commitment — that will come later — just get a feel for the support you have.
2. There may be groups within your community that regularly organize community projects. Consider partnering with these or other groups, even if they are not in your area.
3. Businesses and your local authority take pride in their communities. Ask them to help with this community effort by donating items or funding to support the event.
4. Take photos to share photos on websites, social media and in newsletter articles or annual reports.

Promotion

• Consider creating a promotional flyer to distribute via email to local businesses and organisations.
• Specify what will be or will not be accepted; provide options for those items.
• Inform residents about the pickup times. Specify the clean-up will occur regardless of the weather. 
• Include details of the cleanup in your parish and community newsletters, on social media, websites, local radio and newspapers.
• Invite the media to do a story on your cleanup – this is good recognition of volunteers, donors or sponsors.

Getting Started

Before you start, gather everyone together, to review the event and answer questions. Have a cleanup plan with a start and finish point in an estate or street with groups starting at both ends and working towards the middle. Spread volunteers out so they have plenty to do while having fun.

Organiser Duties

• Register interested parties.
• Ensure everyone is aware of safety requirements and areas to avoid.
• Make sure children are safe and supervised by adults.
• Answer questions on collection and removal.
• Have brochures and coupons available on how to dispose of items you cannot accept (WEEE, batteries, hazardous waste, tires, oil, etc.).
• Make sure plenty of water, mobile phones and a first aid kit on-site.
• Keep details for emergency service at hand.
• Keep a positive attitude. don’t get overwhelmed and avoid overwork – you can do more another day!

Whats Needed!

• Volunteers
• Bin bags
• Safety signs and general safety
• Gloves/heavy-duty
• Buckets for sharp objects
• Tools (ropes, rakes, shovels, etc.)
• Trees/wildflowers/grass seeds
• Hi-Vis Safety Vests
• First Aid Kit
• List of mobile phone numbers
• After clean-up events e.g. BBQ or picnic

Say Thanks

Take every opportunity to mention the support of your volunteers, especially when talking to the media. You should write thank you letters to key community groups and local businesses/donors. Provide copies of photos for their archives.

And Finally

Record what worked well and what didn’t. This means you do not have to reinvent the wheel this time next year! This information will be important for new and future members of the cleanup group.

If you would like to include a residents association door 2 door recycling collection for electrical, electronic and pure metal items as part of your local spring clean please call Recycle IT on 01 4578321 or email info@recylceit.ie.

You can get community clean-up guidelines here.

About Recylce IT

Recycle IT, is an award-winning social enterprise offering electrical, electronic and metal recycling services through drop-off and collection. Services are provided in partnership with WEEE Ireland and South Dublin County Council.

Recycle IT is supported by Pobal and Dormant Accounts and authorised by the National Waste Collection Permit Office and the local authorities across the east midlands waste region

For more information on Recycle IT please call 01 4578321, email info@recycleit.ie or visit our website www.recycleit.ie

To get your spring clean pack and more information click here

Open for Enquiries

As National Spring Clean approached Recycle IT want to, encourage residents groups, tidy town groups, householders, families, and friends to act and recycle any old, unwanted or unused electrical stuff from around the house. This includes kettles, cookers, TVs, washing machines, games consoles, batteries, phones, computers, metals, and electronic toys; the list really is endless.

Recycle IT work in partnership with Residents Groups across Dublin. Our teams can collect all types of household and small office waste electrical, electronic and pure metal equipment from residents. The collection is door to door, free and our teams collect weekly Monday to Friday.

Presenting Your Recycling for Collection

Once local residents know a collection is scheduled people can easily assemble old electrical, electronic and metal equipment and have it out and ready and out for collection by 9am on collection day. If people need help please do lend a hand to get their items out for colleciton or let our team know in advance?

Items for collection can be placed at the front of your home within reach of the pavement (e.g., in your drive) but not on the pavement so as to block access.

Your electrical waste should not be placed in refuse sacks or covered. Please ensure electrical and metal waste items are easily accessible. If items are hidden behind a locked gate or a parked car, we may not be able to see or collect your items. Our teams will accept electrical and metal waste at no cost once used in your home or small office.

You can click here for a list of items collected (PDF Files for electrical and metal items)

In the case of unforeseen circumstances such as poor weather conditions, vehicle breakdowns, roadworks or other incidents, we may be delayed, but we will do our best to keep groups updated and we will work to catch up throughout the day.

On request, we can enter homes at the ground floor level only. Residents should remain at a safe distance from our team. It is preferable if items for recycling are outside

Working Together

Our authorised WEEE collections are offered in association with Residents’ Associations. Each group helps by providing details on the number of homes in the area, names of roads, and promotion of the event to householders through social media, email, leaflets newsletter etc. Recycle IT can provide further information on request.

Please note: Today our resident collections are provided free of charge to Residents’ Associations in South Dublin, Dublin City and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown.

About Recycle IT

Recycle IT an award-winning community recycler wishes to build on Ireland’s recycling success story and help increase the 10.9 KG of waste electrical and electronic equipment collected yearly per inhabitant in Ireland. (recorded in 2017)

We are inviting resident associations and community groups including tidy towns to speak with us about arranging a FREE collection in your area over the coming months.

Our team will accept old household electrical items, and office electrical items alongside your garden power tools and pure metal equipment. We can also accept commercial appliances but do call in advance.

Recycle IT as a social enterprise works in partnership with WEEE Ireland. Recycle IT is supported by Pobal, South Dublin County Council and authorized by the National Waste Collection Permit Office. Recycle IT are an active member of Community Resources Network Ireland (CRNI).

To learn more about recycling electrical equipment please call Recycle IT at 01 4578321, email us or visit www.recycleit.ie

_{Recycle IT Van}

Municipal Waste Recycling

Irelands Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released our National Waste Statistics Summary Report for 2020 in December 2022. The National Waste Statistics report is the most recent official data on waste generation and management in Ireland. The report reveals a number of worrying trends.

Trends

It appears Ireland and the population of Ireland generates too much waste which is a concern for waste management in our country.

There are wider issues such as climate and environmental impacts caused by increasing amounts of waste. Issues such as land use, resources, chemicals and the energy involved in creating products that become waste.

In 2020 key waste streams were also impacted by Covid restrictions:

• Municipal waste increased from 3.1 million in 2019 to 3.2 million.
• Packaging waste remained high at 1.1 million tonnes, the fourth year in which total packaging waste generated exceeded 1 million tonnes.
• Construction waste decreased by 600,000 tonnes to 8.2 million tonnes
• Overall waste generation increased to 16.2 million tonnes, up from 12.7 million tonnes in 2012.

Ireland’s waste generation continues to increase in line with our economic growth, indicating that we have not succeeded in moving from the linear economic model of “take, make, use, and create waste”.

Circular Economy

A recent OECD study found that Ireland has a circular material use rate of 1.8 per cent, relative to an EU average of 12.8%. We need to move to a circular economy where resources are reused, repaired or recycled as much as possible, and the generation of waste is minimised.

Sharon Finegan, Director of the EPA’s Office of Environmental Sustainability noted,

“A circular economy is one that is based on less waste and more reuse of materials; these trends show Ireland is going in the wrong direction. Our rising levels of waste are unsustainable and immediate steps must be taken to address these trends. Systemic change is needed across all economic sectors to shift the focus to designing out and reducing waste and promoting reuse and recycling.”

Ireland is continuing to meet many of its current EU targets. However, targets for 2025 and beyond are extremely challenging. Our increasing levels of waste are undoing our efforts to recycle more, and our rate of recycling has stagnated. For example:

• The municipal waste recycling rate was 41 per cent in 2020, however, it must reach 55 per cent by 2025.
• The plastic packaging recycling rate was 29 per cent in 2020, however, it must reach 50 per cent in 2025.

Swapped Landfill for Incineration

Disposal to landfill has fallen sharply in Ireland over the past decade; a welcome development since this is the least desirable option in the waste management hierarchy. The municipal waste landfill rate in 2020 was 16 per cent, down from 58 per cent in 2010. The share of municipal waste sent for energy recovery increased from four per cent in 2010, to 42 per cent in 2020.

Exported Waste

Ireland remains heavily reliant on export for the treatment of a number of key waste streams, pointing to some significant waste infrastructure deficits and missed opportunities to foster a circular economy. Exported waste for treatment in 2020 included:

• 27 per cent of biodegradable waste;
• 39 per cent of municipal waste;
• 55 per cent of hazardous waste;
• 50 per cent of packaging waste; and
• almost all WEEE was exported for the final treatment step.

Comments

Commenting on the recycling trends Warren Phelan, Programme Manager of the EPA’s Circular Economy Programme said:

“Our rising levels of waste are unsustainable and are threatening Ireland’s achievement of EU recycling targets. We urgently need mandatory incentivised charging for the collection of non-household (commercial) municipal waste. We need to increase the rollout of brown bins, collect more food waste separately and increase the capture of plastic packaging for recycling at collection and processing stages.”

Further Information

The National Waste Statistics Summary Report for 2020 is available on the EPA website.

National waste statistics for individual waste streams are published on the EPA website.

About Recycle IT

Recycle IT is an award-winning social enterprise providing community, personal and business recycling services for all types of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) in Dublin and surrounding counties.

During 2022 Recycle IT provided drop-off and collection services to thousands of homes, schools, charities and businesses across Dublin and surrounding areas collecting a range of WEEE which included thousands of computers, cables, monitors, microwaves, TVs, and computer screens.

Recycling services offered by Recycle IT are provided in partnership with WEEE Ireland. Recycle IT is supported by the Pobal-managed, Community Services Programme, Dormant Accounts and by South Dublin County Council. Recycling services are authorized by the National Waste Collection Permit Office and the local authorities across Leinster.

For more information about Recycle IT please visit www.recycleit.ie or call 01 4578321.

Social Economy and Circular Economy.

This event will focus on the social economy and circular economy. It’s for entrepreneurs, social enterprises, circular enterprises, support organisations, and small to medium-sized enterprises interested in sustainability and the circular economy.

It will highlight

• the overarching context (Social and circular economy trends, policies, updates)
• Examples of innovation and collaboration from social enterprises, circular economy enterprises and support organisations and
• Resources and support can help social and circular enterprises innovate and collaborate.

Event programme: 

• Registration, Refreshments & Networking (Food/drinks from the Green Kitchen & Stillgarden Distillery 
• Introduction, MC’s Dr Joanne Rourke, Eastern Midlands Waste Region & Mary MacSweeney Dublin City Council
• Fireside Chat – SoCircular Context: Claire Downey, Rediscovery Centre 
• Panel Discussion – SoCircular with Innovation & Collaboration examples.

The panel members include:

Emma Kavanagh, Community Resource Network Ireland 

Jake Chaney, Stillgarden Distillery

Niall O’Brien, Grow Dome Project

Máirín Murray, Tech for Good Dublin

The event will also feature the launch of the Dublin City Social Enterprise Awards 2023, act as a lead-up event to Dublin Circular Economy Hotspot 2023 and take place as a Modos networking event.

The 2023 Dublin City Social Enterprise Awards will be launched with a presentation by Shane Meehan from Inner City Enterprise.

After the presentation, the audience will be joined by a panel of previous awardees to speak about their experience of receiving a Dublin City Social Enterprise Award in 2022! The panel members include:

Sinéad Ryan @LittleFitnessIE,

Ashling Golden@SolasProject

John McEntee@socialrecycleit

Book your place free @ Local Enterprise Week 23 and attend on the evening of March 9th

About Recycle IT

Recycle IT is an award-winning social enterprise providing a community, personal and business collection service for all types of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) in Dublin and surrounding counties.

During 2022 Recycle IT offered to drop off and collection services to thousands of homes, schools, charities and businesses across Dublin and surrounding areas collecting a range of WEEE which includes thousands of computers, cables, monitors, microwaves and screens

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

For more information about Recycle IT please visit www.recycleit.ie or call 01 4578321.