Cree company’s €700,000 investment in recycling

ONE of Munster’s fastest growing waste management service providers, Cree-based Clean Ireland Recycling has recently invested €700,000 in the purchase of two specially commissioned collection trucks, the only ones of their kind in Europe.
The trucks are unique in that they come complete with four separate compartments to cater for the collection of separate recycling, brown bin (food waste) and general-waste bins, as well as a separate compartment for used clothes. Standard trucks in operation in Ireland have just one compartment, with two-compartment vehicles also more evident in recent times.
The Clean Ireland 26-tonne capacity recycling trucks were co-designed by in-house Clean Ireland Recycling engineers and engineers from Griffith J Roberts Engineers, who supply the bodies for refuse trucks and Swedish-based Scania engineers. They were purchased from the Scania dealers in Castleisland, County Kerry.
Founded in 1990 by the O’Donoghue family in Cree, Clean Ireland now employs 100 people in Cree, Ennis, Shannon and Limerick City.
Clean Ireland Recycling financial controller, Caroline Walsh said the new four-compartment truck is delivering higher efficiencies and environmental protection for both the company and their customers.
“We went to Scania with a particular spec for these trucks and did so in the knowledge that they would result in greater efficiencies for us because we can collect four separate waste types in one stop now and deliver them straight to our sorting centre. This means we have fewer trucks on the road, resulting in savings for us and a reduction in our and our customers’ carbon footprint.
“We have always been innovative and this has been driven by the need to deliver cost and environmental efficiencies for customers and ourselves. We have developed a habit for firsts over the years, starting back in the early 1990s, when we were one of the first companies in Europe to introduce the wheelie bin,” she said.
The acquisition of the trucks is just one of a number of significant investments this year by the company, including a further €1.5m on the purchase of up to 40,000 new 360l recycling bins and brown-bins. The company also recently purchased South Tipperary County Council’s waste collection service.
“We are the only operator in Ireland to make a 360l recycling bin available to householders. The standard bin is 240l and our larger bin means customers rarely, if ever, have an overflow of recyclables. Typically, excess recyclables end up in the general waste bin and because of our pay-by-weight system, the more our customers recycle, the less they pay,” said Ms Walsh.
“We are also finalising the roll-out of our brown bins for food waste, which, like our recycling bins, are collected free of charge, to all customers. This will significantly reduce their general waste and, again, their costs. All in, we estimate that these initiatives are resulting in an average saving of in excess of 70 per customer and diverting up to 10,000 tonnes per annum from landfill. It’s a win-win, for the customer, the environment and us,” she added.