17th February 2005

Arts, Sports & Tourism

Waste Disposed Of In The Department

Ciarán Cuffe asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the total weight of waste that his Department produces within its own offices in the last year for which figures are available; the breakdown of he weight produced by paper, glass, aluminium and steel cans, textiles, plastics, organic waste, electrical and electronic equipment, batteries, hazardous waste and mixed waste respectively; the percentage of weight in each category which is recycled; and the details of any contracts his Department has for this disposal, reduction or re-use of waste.

Minister For Arts, Sports & Tourism: My Department's premises at 23 Kildare Street are shared with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, who are the main tenant in the building. Collection and disposal of general waste from 23 Kildare Street is organised by the main tenant. Both Departments make common use of the same waste containers and there is no record kept of the volume of waste produced by each Department. The waste is categorised by general waste, cardboard and paper. There is a separate waste container for each of the three categories. The waste is not weighed but rather there is a flat-rate fee incurred each time the waste containers are emptied.

My Department's premises in Frederick Building are shared with the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Transport, the Department of Finance and the Office of the Chief Medical Officer for the Civil Service, with the Department of Foreign Affairs being the main tenant in the building. In addition the owners of the building, Jones, Lang La Salle, also have offices in the building and it is they who arrange general waste collection and disposal on behalf on all the occupants in the building. At the moment there is no recycling of waste from Frederick Building. The waste generated by all the occupants in the building is placed together in the same container. Again there is a flat-rate fee incurred each time the waste is collected. The waste is not weighed.