COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, March 11, 2024

QUESTION NO. 6

QUESTION: Councillor L.Guéret

To ask the Chief Executive if consideration has been given to displaying more information in South Dublin County Council owned buildings regarding sustainability and practical measures all users and workers could implement to reduce waste in our buildings in the County.

REPLY: Both the new National Waste Plan for a Circular Economy and the SDCC Climate Action Plan have actions that aim to prevent the generation of waste not only across all SDCC departments and properties, but also in wider society.

Previously, projects delivered included working with our caterers to eliminate single use coffee cups from the staff canteen in County Hall and we continue to work with them to identify opportunities to further reduce plastics.

A number of actions in the Circular Economy and Resource Management and Citizen Engagement Action Areas of the new Climate Action Plan aim to highlight practical measures to reduce waste. As projects are identified and delivered an awareness/communications campaign highlights the benefits of the programme.

SDCC held an Energy Awareness information day on Wednesday 28th February in the foyer in County Hall, which included energy information displays from the OPW and the Energy Saving Kits we have in our libraries, to help homeowners better understand and improve energy usage, as well as the opportunity to engage with energy practitioners with queries.

SDCC will bring the SEAI ISO 50001 (Energy Management System) Implementation Accelerator in March 2024. With the formation of an Energy Team, as required under ISO 50001, Energy Awareness communications and campaigns will improve across SDCC owned buildings, as we move towards certification.  

Furthermore stakeholders can use our dedicated climate action website, www.southdublinclimate.ie, to keep up to date on our climate actions and latest news. Citizen engagement via the website is complemented by a quarterly citizens climate newsletter, which details current Council climate action on a specific, rotating thematic area. The Climate Team works with the Communications Unit to promote our website news articles and newsletters via our social channels.