Cork County Council introduced a pilot scheme to separate hazardous waste from domestic refuse last week. The amount of hazardous materials found in household refuse can be huge. It includes paint, glue, adhesive, ink, medicine, weedkiller, insecticide, cleaning agents, polish, detergent and oil.
These, as well as batteries and fluorescent tubes, are sent to landfill sites where they could contaminate groundwater.
Cork County Council has contracted Cara Waste Management, in partnership with Janssen Pharmaceutical of Little Island, to provide a free household hazardous-waste collection service.
A specially equipped truck - the Cara Chemcar - visited Carrigaline and Riverstown on Saturday and people were invited to bring hazardous domestic waste to the truck for disposal.
Cork County Council's senior executive engineer, Ms Katherine Walshe, said the Environmental Protection Agency estimates that household hazardous waste amounted to 8,750 tonnes in 1996.
"While this is less than 1 per cent of the total weight of household waste, the proper management of hazardous waste is an important aspect of environmental protection, as it supports awareness of the environment among citizens generally. This is particularly true in other European countries, such as Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands, which are all notable in their treatment of hazardous items, where the waste is either recycled or disposed of with energy recovery," she said.
Cara Waste Management will separate the waste and send it to licensed facilities which specialise in the treatment and recovery of specific waste streams, Ms Walshe explained.
"Fluorescent tubes and batteries which contain mercury and heavy metals, such as lead, cadmium, nickel and zinc, for example, are all recycled in licensed plants on the continent and full certification is provided for all the waste processed," she said.