When the island's landfill was closed six months ago, the development co-ops of the three Aran islands set up a scheme to deal with the rubbish, writes Lorna Siggins, on Inis Mór
The Aran island of Inis Mór has initiated its own recycling and composting scheme, following closure of its landfill some six months ago.
Introduced in late June, the scheme has experienced some teething problems among the population of 1,000 - which increases when some 200,000 tourists visit each year.
However, waste due for shipment to landfill on the mainland has already been reduced substantially, according to Ms Olwen Gill of Timpeallacht na n-Oileán, the Aran recycling scheme.
Ms Gill says the islanders have responded very positively since the first collection on June 24th. Timpeallacht na n-Oileáis a limited company, set up by the development co-ops of the three islands and Galway County Council to implement an environmentally friendly waste-management plan.
On Inis Mór, every household has been provided with two wheelie bins - one for landfill and one for organic biodegradable waste that is used for composting.
Recycling bags must be used for clean recyclable materials - plastic, paper and cardboard - and special collections of hazardous waste are being arranged.
Collections from businesses take place more frequently and all waste is taken to a transfer station at Eochaill Inis Mór for further sorting, baling and compacting.
Biodegradable waste is treated in a German-built composter, located behind the transfer station.
The non-recyclable material for landfill is shipped to Co Galway's only landfill at Pollboy in Ballinasloe. Bottle banks are provided free of charge at several points on the island.
The waste charges for islanders are levied through the cost of the refuse bags, at €4 per black bag and €2 per recycling bag. Costs for disposal of hazardous waste items are much greater for islanders due to shipping charges - €35 euro for a fridge, being one example.
Insurance proved to be the main difficulty in establishing the scheme, which the island's co-op had hoped to commission last year.
"No one would touch us when they heard that waste was involved and, in the end, we had to come in under Galway County Council's insurance," according to Ms Gill.
The co-op also had mixed success in working with the council's waste-management consultants. Some of the equipment purchased for handling recyclable goods, and grant-aided by the State, has proved to be unsuitable or unnecessary.
To date, just over €1 million has been spent on buildings and equipment by Udarás na Gaeltachta, Galway County Council, the Department of the Environment and the former Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands. This included construction of transfer stations on both Inis Mór and Inis Meain. The Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs has funded staffing under the Social Economy initiative.
Ms Gill has been employed as an environment officer to supervise the scheme and to promote awareness among the islands, including the school-going population.
"It has been a continuous learning curve for us all, including the consultants," she says. "From our experience, I would advise any community intending to set up its own scheme to do as much research as possible before working with the consultants. The community recognises its own needs best, and you just can't do enough research on this."
Illegal dumping has not been a problem but businesses have taken to locking their bins due to illicit dumping in them.
"Tourists have been known to open household wheelie bins and dump rubbish, and this causes all sorts of problems," Ms Gill says. "For instance, biodegradable waste can't be composted if landfill material is dumped in on top of it."
An environmental levy on visitors to the Aran islands is due to be introduced by Galway County Council. "Eco-taxes" have been in operation on many European islands to support costly services - the Balearic island of Mallorca, which hosts 10 million tourists annually, introduced a €1 levy more than a year ago.