The dumping of recyclable commercial and industrial waste at its landfill in Dunmore is to be banned by Kilkenny County Council from next Monday.
Business and industry leaders are cooperating with the move, which should dramatically reduce the amount of waste being placed in the landfill, which is approaching capacity.
The council has also appointed former Green Party councillor and Genetic Concern activist Ms Sadhbh O'Neill as its first environmental education and awareness officer. Her role will involve the promotion of strategies aimed at minimising the production of waste and increasing reuse and recycling.
Enforcement staff are to be employed at the Dunmore landfill to ensure the restriction coming into effect on Monday is not breached, a spokesman for the council told The Irish Times.
The decision to introduce the ban was taken at a meeting between representatives of the council, IBEC and Kilkenny Chamber of Commerce and Industry last Friday.
It followed an appeal in July by the local authority for businesses and industry to radically reduce the amount of reusable and recyclable material being dumped at the Dunmore site, in the hope of extending the landfill's lifespan.
Since then, the chamber of commerce has been working with waste operators on initiatives aimed at eliminating the requirement to dump cardboard, glass, newspapers, magazines and cans, which account for more than 60 per cent of the waste being discharged by business and industry in Kilkenny.
These materials, as well as timber and steel, will no longer be accepted in commercial and industrial waste dumped at Dunmore. At their meeting on Friday, council and business representatives agreed that sufficient progress had been made towards providing recycling and reuse alternatives to make the ban feasible.
Ms O'Neill, whose appointment follows adoption of a new waste management plan for the county, will liaise between businesses and the council to ensure the new measures succeed. She will also work with local communities and schools as well as families and individuals.
A former member of Dublin City Council, she gained a high profile as a spokeswoman for Earthwatch and Genetic Concern during a range of environmental campaigns.
Mr Philip O'Neill, the council's director of services with responsibility for the environment, said her appointment was "part of our central strategy to bring about better environmental practice in public, business and community life".