CRÉ IS DELIGHTED TO ANNOUNCE THAT THE CRÉ CERTIFICATION SCHEME IS NOW OPEN FOR APPLICATIONS. 

Cré recently received a lovely letter from Sir David Attenborough in which he said “Thank you for telling me about your admirable scheme”.

Cré is delighted to have such an experience team taking over the management of the scheme.

Dermot O’Doherty and Dearbhail Wheston are the independent directors of the certification body – Cré Certification Ireland.

Ruth Robertson is the scheme manager and Eoin Bird is the scheme inspector.

The Certification Committee comprises Dr. Billy Fitzgerald (former head of  Environmental Science IT Sligo), Josef Barth (Informa Consultants, Germany) and Henrik Lystad (Norwaste, Norway).

Over the next few months products will be tested under the scheme rules.

The scheme website is www.compostable.ie

Any company interested in getting more details about the scheme are to email certification@cre.ie

ENDS

Minister Creeds Helps Awards Certificates in Composting

Last week at an Awards Ceremony held in the Royal College of Physicians, Minister Creed helps hand out the ‘Cré – Institute of Technology Sligo Certificate in Compost Facility Operation’.

With increasing amount of composting happening the trained students are all actively working in the sector as either operating plants or regulating plants.  22 people completed the course and were various backgrounds of being regulators, compost site operators and consultants.

The use of compost in its role of carbon sequestration in Irish soils was discussed at the event and everyone acknowledge the role to keep carbon locally in Irish soils is needed. A recent survey showed that nearly 100,000 of compost is generated in Ireland this is set to increase rapidly in the next few years as more poultry manure and brown bin materials is composted.

ENDS

Caption: Minister Creed, Dr. Michele Glacken (IT Sligo) and Percy Foster (Cré) with the students who got awarded the Certificate in Compost Facility Operation.

“Mobilising an Irish Biogas Industry with Policy and Action”
Press Release: Immediate Release
18^th July 2019

Biogas can addresses Ireland’s declared Climate Emergency with Government Policy and Action now
Today, the Irish Bioenergy Association (IrBEA) and Cré- Composting and Anaerobic Digestion Association of Ireland launch their joint policy document calling for a biogas support scheme titled “Mobilising an Irish Biogas Industry with Policy and Action”. This document developed following consultation with members and key stakeholders in the sector, sets out a road map for how the government target of 1.6Twh of biomethane by 2030 can be achieved on a phased basis over the next number of years. The document provides the Irish government with an industry roadmap for the role out of a meaningful Irish biogas industry. This document addresses the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action call for a strategy to be developed for Anaerobic digestion and also the Government Climate Action Plan action on biomethane injection. This policy document articulates a vision from the industry and outlines the key principles which will need to be followed for the growth and development of a successful Irish biogas industry.

Speaking at the policy document launch, Seán Finan IrBEA CEO says  “Our vision is for the Irish biogas industry to be developed on a phased basis to achieve the government climate action plan target of 1.6Twh (200MW) of biomethane injection by 2030 or before. A biogas support scheme will be required to bridge the cost gap between the current cost of production of biogas and current sale price of fossil gas.  In the short term, we would like to see an initial phase of 65MW of biomethane funded by the government. The initial 65MW can be achieved by 25 medium to large scale biogas plants which are strategically located across the county and close to the gas grid. The initial phase would deliver 400 jobs and abate 500,000 tonnes of CO₂ with a biogas support scheme costing €40 million”

Percy Foster, CEO of Cré said “we are delighted to have worked closely with our colleagues in IrBEA in producing this joint policy document. We firmly believe a phased approach in developing a sustainable biogas sector is the way forward. Our document outlines in detail the many significant benefits Biogas has, which go unrecognised by many key stakeholders. It helps meet renewable energy targets, diversification for farmers, creates local jobs, reduces the need for chemical fertilisers and the avoidance of greenhouse gas emissions are just a few examples”.

The joint document clearly articulates that a whole of government approach is required to funds the biogas support scheme required. A number of funding options are available and should be explored. An Irish biogas industry will deliver significant benefits to the country across a least 7 different Government department. Some of the different Government funding options available include: the introduction of a PSO levy on fossil gas, a financial contribution from all of the different government departments that can realise a benefit from the industry creating a whole of Government fund or ringfencing some of the carbon tax budget. Policy and action is required now from Government to ensure this industry develops in Ireland which is mainstream in many other European countries for many years.
IrBEA Cre Biogas Policy Summary Final
IrBEA Cre Biogas Policy Paper Final_1

L to R: Pat O’Donnell, Sean Campbell, Heather Loughlin, Ronan Douglas (GIY), Maurice Cremin, Martin Eves & Derry Murphy, pictured at GORC conference.

GIY Ireland is a non profit charity with over 150,000 members. Its aim is to help people grow their own vegetables. GIY and Cré have drafted up a three year partnership plan.    

In this partnership plan, GIY Ireland will assist Cré with the following:
• Data collection from its members on Cré surveys
• Incorporating brownbin.ie educational tools into the GIY school programmes
• Three years of promotional campaigns to their members e.g. pay by weight/brown bin in 2016

In addition, Cré will be promoted as one of the main sponsors of Grow Circle/ Grown HQ in Waterford (http://www.giyinternational.org/grow_hq) and provided with an advert space in the GIY magazine.

Cré sought support from members to fund this programme and we are delighted to announce the following members have pledged their support to the three year programme;

                 Cremin Farm Compost

Best Practice Guide for Door to Door Brown Bin Education

The National Brown Bin Awareness Pilot project took place in Sligo. Based on the experiences from the pilot, a best practice guide for door to door education of householders on how to use a brown bin collection service has been developed.

View the full guide here.

The guide can be used by a waste collection company or by a local authority as part of an education programme.

It is based mainly on the experiences of the three brown bin advisors (Margaret Dunleavy, David McGovern and Rachel Finan), who conducted the national pilot of the brown bin advisors programme in Sligo city from July 2014 to March 2015. During the pilot, an estimated 3,000 face to face interviews with householders were conducted.

It is recommended that if a local authority is going to do an education programme that it is conducted in partnership with all the local waste collectors. It is important that all the waste collectors give a full commitment to the programme as without it, the programme will not be successful.

This report contains the following sections:
• Planning
• Preparation in advance of going door to door
• Face to face interviews
• Problems encountered by the Sligo team
• Advice for waste collectors

There is an appendix that contains templates with recommended resources.

Key Recommendations
• Develop constructive partnership and effective communications with all key stakeholders – e.g. local authorities, waste collectors, processors (compost/biogas plants), and any third party service delivery company
• Establish priority goals early in the programme
• Maximise the use of available resources
• Be flexible and willing to tweak / change the programme during the project

Special thanks are due to the following organisations who provided funding for the pilot;
• The Department of Environment, Community and Local Government
• Sligo County Council
• Novamont
• Cré- Composting and Anaerobic Digestion Association of Ireland