John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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Question 137: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he will make a statement on the race against waste campaign. [22567/06]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The Race Against Waste campaign, funded by my Department, is an extended environmental awareness campaign to promote better waste management at home and in the workplace. The campaign, which was launched in November 2003, comprises a waste awareness media campaign and a communications strategy. The budget for each year of the campaign has been €3.5 million.

The media campaign encourages people to prevent, reduce, re-use, and recycle or compost their waste while the communications strategy informs the public about waste issues generally and of the need for an integrated approach to waste management.

Two programmes, the Small Change Programme aimed at SMEs, and Action at Work, aimed at larger organisations, were developed as part of the communications strategy and are promoted through seminars organised by Race Against Waste. In the current year of the campaign over 60 seminars, including twenty for County Development Boards, will encourage organisations to take action to reduce waste.

The campaign is also working with sporting and entertainment organisations to improve waste management at major events including the Ryder Cup, due to take place in September.

The campaign works closely with Local Authority Environmental Awareness Officers, who work locally with householders, schools, businesses and community groups. Communities are also encouraged to minimise, recycle and compost their waste through the national Tidy Towns competition's waste module. A partnership between Race Against Waste and the Mountmellick Environmental Group, for example, aims to make Mountmellick Ireland's "First Green Town".

To encourage better practice within the local authority service, Dublin City Council and Mayo County Council are working with Race Against Waste on a pilot project which will implement Action At Work in their offices and buildings. The experience gained from this will be shared with all other local authorities.

Factsheets on waste topics, in both Irish and English, have been published and widely distributed. A website (www.raceagainstwaste.ie) from which all Race Against Waste publications can be downloaded, and a lo-call number to deal with enquiries from the public, were introduced in 2004. In addition, an interactive web-based resource to engage young adults in the Race against Waste was launched in November 2005.

The Race Against Waste campaign, which complements increased investment in infrastructure, more effective enforcement and the introduction of pay by use systems is an effective element of our waste management strategy and has helped to raise awareness of waste issues and to significantly increase recycling rates.