A NEW green initiative from the Department of the Environment, Climate, and Communications hopes to see people in Limerick getting into their reusable cups.
The new Circular Cups for Community Events initiative was launched by Minister Alan Dillon, and will see local authories across the ‘Southern Waste Region’ (including Limerick, Tipperary, Cork, Waterford, Kerry, Wexford, Kilkenny, and Carlow) take part.
Under the new initiative, local non-for-profit community events in the above counties will be able to benefit from reusable plastic cups, in a move designed to reduce waste and help reach the national goal of reducing waste per person by 20kg annually.
The service, operated by IRD Duhallow, will see cups delivered clean to nominated event locations, collected after the event, and “professionally washed at a dedicated facility for guaranteed reuse up to 300 times”.
“Organisers will contribute only towards the cost of transportation and a nominal washing fee,” a spokesperson said. “A deposit for cup losses is also factored in when placing the cup order.”
“This programme now empowers a wide variety of organisations including local sports clubs, schools, youth organisations, craft markets, and community festivals to easily access a shared stock of reusable pint, half-pint, and hot/cold beverage cups with or without lids.”
The stock available to events includes 12,000 pint cups, 9,000 half-pint cups, and 7,000 coffee cups.
Organisations looking to take advantage of the new initiative are advised to visit the My Waste Ireland website.
A spokesperson for Limerick Council said the new initiative marks “a new era for local sustainability”.