Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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Question 271: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the progress to date on the cross-Border waste awareness campaign; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4051/05]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The cross-Border waste awareness campaign referred to was launched on 14 September 2004 and was completed in December 2004. The cost of the campaign was €3.2 million of which 75% was provided from EU structural funds under priority 2, measure 2 of the INTERREG IIIA programme administered through the special European Union programmes body.

The project was designed to support the implementation of the Waste Management Strategy for Northern Ireland, 2000, and my Department's Changing Our Ways, 1998, and Preventing and Recycling Waste: Delivering Change, 2002, policy statements. These strategies are intended to achieve fully sustainable waste management. The funding enabled an all-island waste awareness campaign to be conducted that focussed primarily on the cross-Border regions.

It is recognised that raising awareness is central to achieving fully sustainable waste management and both North and South have initiated innovative branded marketing campaigns "Wake up to Waste" and "Race Against Waste" to support the implementation of their policies and waste management plans. Both campaigns have been successful in raising awareness of the need to reduce waste and have identified the willingness of individuals to participate in waste reduction and recycling measures. The INTERREG campaign complemented and gave additionality to these campaigns.

The main objective of the campaign was to reduce the volume of waste going to landfill and increase the recycling of waste materials in the cross-Border area. The approach taken incorporated the following elements: a TV advertising campaign, incorporating a common advert for both jurisdictions; radio advertising on local stations, North and South; weekly and trade press to reinforce messages across the island with targeting of publications in the border areas; development of a dedicated website highlighting the innovative cross-border activities under the INTERREG banner with links pages to Wake up to Waste and Race Against Waste websites; production of fridge magnets for distribution by local authorities to reinforce the messages transmitted through other media and extend their impact beyond the life of the campaign; e-marketing through advertising on selected websites; cinema advertisements; advertisements displayed on buses and billboards displayed in supermarkets and shopping centres; high profile public launch of the campaign in the Border area; a cross-Border workshop event on 8 November which brought together consumers, businesses and the community to identify networking opportunities during the media campaign and research and tracking to measure outcomes and provide information on activity and behaviour in the cross-Border area.

An evaluation of the campaign outcomes is currently in progress.