Barna Waste has announced the planned opening of its regional composting centre at the Headford Road with the creation of 10 jobs. The new €6 million facility is the largest composting site in Connacht and is authorised to cater for up to 40,000 tonnes of waste annually. Initial weekly volumes of brown bin waste handled on site will be the equivalent of composting the annual food waste produced by a town of 4,000 inhabitants.
The company currently employs 280 people across the region operating three EPA licensed facilities in Galway, Roscommon and Leitrim. The opening of the composting facility in 2013 will mark the Galway company’s twentieth anniversary of operation. Speaking at the announcement of the new composting facility, Barna Waste’s managing director Sean Curran outlined how the new centre will have a significant impact in reducing the volume of food waste in the region going to landfill.
“We have worked very closely with the various local authorities and large producers of food waste including major hospitals, hoteliers, restaurant owners and corporate catering companies, helping them achieve their waste management obligations. Barna Waste is commited to achieving minimal volumes of waste sent to landfill. The opening of this composting site next year will ensure we can work with all industries and continue the development of a more progressive recycling culture with all our customers.”
The new Barna Waste facility will cater for brown bin waste from homes, commercial food waste and the hospitality industry such as hotels and restaurants. A seven step composting process will convert initial quantities of 400 tons per week into compost for a range of applications from home to agricultural usage.
Mr Curran outlined Barna Waste’s intention to supply the output of the new facility to a range of community groups and organisations from schools to Tidy Towns groups. The Headford Road site has recently begun a number of educational initiatives such as school tours around the facility to demonstrate the full range of recycling activity that evolves from household and commercial waste collection including the sorting area which recycles approximately 10,000 tonnes of paper annually.
