Local authorities have been urged to improve monitoring levels for air quality after an environmental watchdog described some inspection rates as “unacceptable”.

OUR lives these days seem to be run on batteries — laptops, mobile phones, toys and numerous electrical devices. 

Irish people have recycled more than 75m electrical waste items in the last decade — which works out at about 70 items per house.

TAKE a look around the kitchen, the garage and, most certainly, the attic and you’ll definitely spot some used electrical items that have been lying there for ages.

Ireland is making inroads on its electrical recycling targets.

Large electrical retailers are now obliged to take small used electrical appliances free of charge from consumers — even if they have not bought a new item at the shop.

They may have crushed our Euro 2012 hopes but Ireland has beaten Spain in one European clash — recycling.

IT might sound just like common sense, but if you want people to change their ways and do something different the best way to go about it is to make it easy for them.

IN the five years since electrical and battery recycling began, Ireland has become one of the EU’s top electronic recycling nations.

RESIDENTS living around Cork city’s former landfill site have been warned to expect odours from the site next week as contractors begin relocating waste as part of a major capping project.

THE countless people that got new laptops, PCs, battery-operated toys, home appliances and any number of other electrical goods for Christmas have an issue – how to get rid of the old items that have been replaced.

Electric Picnic revellers are set to enjoy a handy solution to a perennial festival problem this year, with a free phone recharging facility on offer.

Ireland is top of the European league table when it comes to recycling electronic equipment

Ireland is among the top five countries in Europe when it comes to recycling electrical goods, according to the organisation overseeing Ireland's compliance with the EU's WEEE directive.

A DUBLIN company has become the first in Ireland to be prosecuted for failing to comply with its producer obligations under the WEEE directive.

CONSUMERS could end up paying extra for batteries under plans to recycle more electrical and electronic devices.

PRICES of small electrical goods should fall slightly from today after the scrapping of the recycling charge that has been automatically built into the cost for the past three years.

CONSUMERS recycled 6.9 million television sets, washing machines and light bulbs last year — the equivalent of five kettles for every person in the country.

Donal Hickey on why recycling becomes a much bigger job during the festive season.

Employers' group IBEC today welcomed the statement from the Minister for Environment, Heritage and Local Government showing a five-fold increase in electrical recycling since the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) scheme came into force in August 2005.

SPECTRA PHOTO have been prosecuted by the Environmental Protection Agency in relation to two offences under the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations 2005.

IRELAND has comfortably exceeded its targets under the EU’s Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment (WEEE) Directive.

FIFTY jobs have been created through the €10 million investment in Ireland’s first automated Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) plant.

BOOTS Retail (Ireland) has been fined €1,200 at Wexford District Court after pleading guilty to charges brought by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

A branch of high street pharmacy Boots was fined over €1,000 and became the first company prosecuted for breaching a European Union directive aimed at cutting levels of electrical waste, it emerged today.

The Irish Agricultural Wholesale Society (IAWS) has reached agreement to invest in TechRec Ireland Limited, a new company established to recycle electrical and electronic equipment.

The Government is giving retailers a free run to exploit consumers by hiking up prices of electrical goods, it was claimed today.

A NEW EU directive that kicks in today will add €40 million to the cost of dealing with waste each year, according to waste management specialist Greenstar.

Irish manufacturers will have to pay for the collection and disposal of all old electrical goods to avoid multi-million euro fines under new regulations published today.

CONSUMERS will be able to present old electrical equipment to suppliers for recycling from next year in a scheme which could cost industry up to €10m a year and result in product price increases.