2/10/2003 Roche Ireland Ltd in Clare hosts national workshop for large industry on waste treatment and reduction
Media Information 7th January 2003
Roche Ireland Ltd in Clare hosts national workshop for large industry on waste treatment and reduction
Roche Ireland Ltd in Clarecastle, Co. Clare has played host to a major national workshop for large industry on the treatment and reduction of industrial waste. The workshop - facilitated by Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI) - was attended by some of the largest industrial users of energy in Ireland.
Speaking at the workshop, Fiona Murray of SEI said, “The aim of the workshop was to review various aspects of industrial waste management and their relationship with energy efficiency and to highlight the potential savings which industry can achieve from reducing, recycling and recovering heat from waste along with innovative wastewater treatment”.
Ms. Murray continued, “The EU Directive on Integrated Pollution Prevention Control (IPPC) is due to be enacted shortly into Irish legislation. Workshop attendees were informed of the IPPC Directive’s implications for industry, including an increased emphasis on energy efficiency and waste minimisation for IPC licensees”.
Best practice in waste management by large industry in Ireland was highlighted at the workshop. Roche Ireland, who hosted the workshop, discussed the heat recovery employed from vapour and liquid waste incineration at the plant and how this enables the overall energy efficiency of the plant’s process to be optimised. At Glanbia’s site in Ballyraggett, Co. Kilkenny, the installation of a revolutionary wastewater treatment facility has proved to be a major success, with the plant working at 99.5% of its capacity, and achieving discharge water purity of a significantly higher level than the required limits. Also at the workshop delegates
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heard of Irish Biscuits experience in waste reduction and recycling initiatives, which led to the company being awarded the Repak Company of the Year Award for 2002.
The workshop included a discussion of the €16.25m available through SEI’s Renewable Energy Research, Development and Demonstration programme under which industrial waste management and treatment projects may be funded. Further details can be obtained from www.sei.ie.
The Large Industry Energy Network is a voluntary agreement scheme in which member companies commit to: Regular audits of their energy consumption; Setting annual energy savings targets; Publication of an annual statement of achievements for the year; Publication of targets for the forthcoming year.
The Network is facilitated by Sustainable Energy Ireland, while member companies fund their own energy saving activities within the scheme.
The continued growth and consolidation of the Network will play a pivotal role in the achievement of Ireland’s Kyoto Protocol targets on greenhouse gas emissions. Under the Kyoto Protocol, Ireland is committed to limiting total emissions of the main greenhouse gases to 13% above 1990 levels in the period 2008 – 2012, a limit which has already been reached. Current forecasts indicate that Ireland will have to achieve a reduction of up to 13.1 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent of greenhouse gases.
Sustainable Energy Ireland, formerly the Irish Energy Centre, was established on May 1st, 2002, as a statutory authority charged with promoting and assisting the development of a sustainable national energy economy. SEI is funded by the Irish Government under the National Development Plan 2000-2006 with programmes part financed by the European Union.
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For further information please contact:
Diarmuid O'Neill
Edelman
01-6789333 / 087-6699933
