Ahead of a busy festive season, Donegal County Council has prepared some advice for you to stay on top of your waste obligations this Christmas.
We can all prevent waste by rethinking how we consume products and materials. In particular over the festive season, when excess waste is higher than normal. Try and choose items with less packaging donate old clothes and think creative, why not find a use for some of your recyclables. Tin can pencil holder maybe? Glass jar vase?
Food Waste:
Each household in Ireland wastes €700 worth of food per year but there are some simple actions that we can all take to reduce this; knowing what you have before you leave home and ensuring you don’t shop on an empty stomach are two of the most simple actions. For more handy hints and great leftover recipes check out StopFoodWaste.ie.
Food waste bins are provided by local waste collectors for households in a food waste bin area. There are 29 towns in Donegal that come under a food waste service.
| Ardara
An Clochán Liath An Fál Carrach Ballybofey- Stranorlar Ballyshannon Buncrana Bundoran Bun Beag Carndonagh Castlefinn
|
Convoy
Donegal Fahan Glenties Greencastle Kildrum Killybegs Killygordon Kilmacrennan Letterkenny
|
Lifford
Manorcunningham Newtowncunningham Milford Moville Muff Ramelton Raphoe St Johnston
|
A food waste bin accepts all food waste including cooked food, meats and dairy products. Click here for lots more information on what to do with food waste.
Recycling:
Recycling turns our waste materials into new useful products or back into the same thing again – glass bottles & jars are a great example as they are infinitely recyclable. This reduces the use of finite raw materials and saves energy.
Household Recycling Bins:
Paper & cardboard, tins & cans, all plastic packaging waste – including soft plastic – can now be placed in your household recycling bin provided by your local waste collector as long as it is clean, dry and loose. For more information check out mywaste.ie
Recycling Centres:
You can recycle a wide range of materials at one of the County’s 6 Recycling Centres located at: Letterkenny, Milford, Stranorlar, Carndonagh, Laghey and Dungloe managed by Bryson Recycling. A wide range of items are collected free for recycling including all electrical and electronic items (anything with a plug or battery!) There is also a charged area for items such as paper, card, rigid plastic etc with charges of €4 for a standard car. There are many other items accepted and a list of items and details of charges are available at www.brysonrecycling.org. The Recycling Centres will be closed for New Year’s Day but will return to normal hours from Monday 3rd January.
Use the free e-waste take-back programme to dispose of your old and broken electrical appliances. Weeeireland.ie has an interactive map to help you find your nearest participating retailers and Local Authority Recycling Centres.
Bring Banks:
There are also 70 locations throughout Donegal where you can recycle your glass and cans. Christmas is a time when these services are at their busiest. Extra servicing will be in place where necessary over the Christmas period. If banks are full please come back at another time and do not leave materials at the banks, this is illegal dumping and you could get a €150 fine. For a list of locations visit www.donegalcoco.ie
Recycle Your “Natural” Christmas Tree for free!
In the New Year when the decorations are coming down don’t forget to recycle your ‘real’ Christmas trees for free at one of the 16 collection points across the Donegal. This service will be operating from Thursday 6th January until Saturday 29th January.
Don’t forget to remove all the decorations. This service is for domestic trees only. For a list of locations visit our website here.
