Waste not, want not at the core of Aran’s recycling ethos
If you’ve ever visited Páirc Éinne – the GAA pitch in the village of Cill Éinne on Inis Mór – you may have been too distracted by the breath-taking views of the sea to notice the grey concrete footpaths surrounding the clubhouse.
But on closer inspection you’ll see that the path is made from concrete mixed with broken glass; a by-product of the bottles that are recycled weekly at the award-winning recycling centre on the largest Aran Island.
Stone walls along the roads to the pitch are likely glued together with this glass-concrete mixture, too; the pitch itself is lined with leftover, repurposed white paint.
Waste not, want not is the motto of Aran Islanders. And Athchúrsáil Árann, located close to the main settlement of Cill Rónáin, is a leading example of ‘reuse and recycle’ in action.
“We didn’t send glass off the island for ten years,” said Gerry Mullin, manager of the recycling centre, which last year won the overall Repak Pakman Award for its community recycling initiative which has transformed recycling infrastructure on islands.
Over 20 years ago, glass bottles – and all other island waste, be it paper, food or dead animals – were dumped in a hole in the ground in a field not far from the harbour, Cill Rónáin.
Other larger items such as electrical waste were shipped to the mainland for landfill.
It was a situation that islanders were uncomfortable with, and the local Co-Op successfully lobbied Galway County Council to close its dump and invest in recycling facilities.
The result is that nowadays 70% of the three islands’ waste is diverted from landfill and – perhaps just as important – seven full-time jobs have been created, including four on Inis Mór, two on Inis Oírr and one on Inis Meáin.
Read the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now – or download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie