Cork towns see significant drop in pollution after smoky coal ban

However, another town that has yet to adopt a ban has had a spike in potentially dangerous emissions

The council's environment director, Louis Duffy, said a nationwide ban on fossil fuels is required rather than it being limited to some areas. File photo: Des Barry

Pollution levels have dropped significantly in two Co. Cork towns since the introduction of a smoky coal ban.

However, a third town that has yet to adopt a ban, has seen a spike in potentially dangerous emissions. The council's environment director, Louis Duffy, said this shows a nationwide ban on fossil fuels is required rather than it being limited to some areas.

Mr Duffy has also outlined a number of initiatives the local authority plans to carry out itself – and in conjunction with other agencies - to counteract climate change.

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He told a meeting of the council's Northern Division that the 2020 ban on smoky coal use in the towns of Cobh and Mallow has had a noticeable impact on air quality there.

However, Macroom, which is not in a ban area, now has twice as many daily exceedances of World Health Organisation (WHO) pollution levels as the other two towns. Mr Duffy said “significant spikes” had occurred in Macroom during the winter months.

He said this proves that there should be a nationwide ban on smoky coals and not just in particular areas.

Revive Paint Scheme

Meanwhile, Mr Duffy said that the council, in partnership with IRD Duhallow, is to collect and reuse unwanted paint. The 'Revive Paint Scheme' will see IRD Duhallow members collect unwanted paint deposited at civic amenity sites, starting initially in Kanturk and Millstreet.

They will filter, remix, recolour and repackage the paint they collect from civic amenity sites, producing high-quality paint to sell within their local communities. Other participating sites in the scheme in Co. Cork include Derryconnell, Clonakilty and Raffeen.

“In Cork county and city, up to 190 tonnes of paint are collected at civic amenity sites annually and are mostly exported for treatment, at a cost to local authorities and more importantly to the environment. It is estimated that approximately 60% of this waste paint is water-based, much of which could be reused and upcycled,” Mr Duffy said.

Medicines

Separately, another scheme is soon to be introduced in the county to stop people polluting water sources by flushing old medicines down sinks or toilets.

“Unused or out-of-date medicine can pose a danger in the home and can also cause damage to the environment. Cork County Council in collaboration with Cork Kerry Community Healthcare will be asking the public to use a free service to dispose of them over the next few weeks,” Mr Duffy said.

The free ‘Dispose of Unused Medicines Properly’ (DUMP) campaign will run from Monday, March 14 to Friday, April 22 and will allow people to bring unused or out-of-date medicines to participating pharmacies to make sure they are disposed of properly.

Mr Duffy said a list of all the participating pharmacies around the county will be published shortly. “These medicines should not be put in the bin or flushed away as this poses a real danger to children, pets, the environment and our water systems,” he said.