Hazardous Farm Waste Collection Day Taking Place In Naas This Week

It's taking place between between 9am and 5pm on 21 October

A hazardous farm waste collection day will take place at Punchestown Racecourse this Wednesday (21 October).

It's between between 9am and 5pm, in order to facilitate collections for the mid-east region.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine have been highlighting the importance of the collection day.

No pre-booking is required, while farmers are asked to segregrate their waste before they arrive, with waste being weighed individually and priced accordingly afterwards.

People are invited to bring various hazardous wastes including pesticides, veterinary medicines (keep needles and syringes separate), waste oils, oil filters, paint, and other chemicals like detergents and descalers.

2024 marked the beginning of the pilot scheme for these collections, with them hoped to continue across the country into 2027, dependent on funding.

Speaking on Kildare Today, inspector in the Pesticide Controls Division with the Agriculture Department David McKearney said that farmers are "quite good" at recognising hazardous waste:

"Generally speaking, farmers are quite good at recognising that this waste they're bringing in is hazardous. Last year for example we removed 207,000kg of hazardous waste from farms, and we're hoping to remove the same again this year. While most farmers are aware, we can always do better.

"We're removing a lot of old waste, like old pesticide that haven't been sprayed in the last 20 or 30 years, coming out of the back of sheds that farmers haven't used or have inherited," he added.

David advised farmers to look through their farms and sheds for hazardous waste, while also urging them to bring any such waste to collection points and dispose of them correctly.

"From a health and safety point of view, you could have dangerous chemicals and sharp needles, and a lot of farms have children and grandchildren, and it's a risk to them and the people working on those farms.

"But also from an environmental point of view, the risk from some of these chemicals being spilled, and contaminating a water source or ground source, if that was to happen, the outcome can be detrimental."

He concluded by emphasising the importance of understanding the nature of hazardous waste on farms in order to avoid harmful situations occurring, encouraging people to attend Wednesday's collection day at Punchestown.

The full interview can be heard below: