A recycling initiative with a difference has provided engineering students at Waterford Institute of Technology with an unexpected resource.
It follows a move late last year by Bausch & Lomb, one of Waterford's biggest employers, to identify obsolete or surplus parts in its engineering stores.
More than a thousand high-quality spare parts and machines were identified as surplus to requirements.
Rather than throw them out, the company decided to explore the possibility of putting them to use elsewhere.
"While these parts are no longer of any commercial value to Bausch & Lomb, the material is very useful for engineering students to gain hands-on experience," according to the plant's warehouse manager, Mr Denis Kelly.
Mr Joe Hayden, of the institute's engineering technology department, said the company, which manufactures contact lenses and has 1,600 employees, was being modest about the value of the equipment.
He said: "It is extremely useful for our courses as it includes working examples of automation, pneumatics, hydraulics and much more.
This type of equipment is very expensive and for the institute to have a stock in store where students can select parts and materials appropriate for their projects is a significant resource."
The consignment was handed over at a function the institute's applied technology campus.