Moneypoint’s ‘pet pig’ goes green

The canteen at Moneypoint Generating Station has made significant strides in the recycling of both organic and non-organic waste. The station’s policy in relation to waste segregation can be seen in the reduction of canteen waste going to landfill.

The two key areas are reduction in organic waste and reduction in packaging waste.

There has been a reduction of more than 90% in the amount of organic waste (e.g waste food, tea bags, tissues, egg shells etc.) going to landfill. This has been achieved by installing a food digester, supplied by Grow Green Solutions, Co. Wicklow. The Jora JK 5100 digester is known affectionately as the ‘Big Pig’ and it reduces organic waste by way of a biological process that turns the waste into high grade compost. The digester has been very successful to date converting about 40kgs of waste per day into usable compost. Credit must go to head chef and manager Nicky and all canteen staff for keeping the digester well fed and also to Paddy Flanagan and Damon Murphy who keep the ‘Pig’ in good working order. The compost produced is freely available to staff who wish to use it.

Waste reduction in the canteen is also being achieved by recycling cardboard, paper, plastic and aluminium cans. We have placed ten 1,100 litre bins outside the canteen specifically designated for dry waste. This has resulted in an average of seven of these bins going to Clean Ireland Ltd every week for further recycling at their plant in Cree, Co. Clare.

As you can see from these figures, the recycling of canteen waste has been very successful. This type of initiative is key to our playing our part in protecting the environment.