ISME, the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association, released the results of its ‘SMEs and CSR’ survey which assessed the level of SME engagement in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in 2015. The Association found that all respondents were active in CSR, despite the fact that only 54% were aware that their activities could be classified...

The Sustainability Pillar of the EPA Research Programme has been allocated funding of approximately €2.75m for new commitments in the 2015 Research Call. The Sustainability Research Call 2015 was opened on 10 June 2015. The overall aim of the Sustainability pillar of the EPA’s Research Programme 2014-2020 is designed to identify pressures, inform policy and...

Green Enterprise provides grant aid to demonstration type projects across all sectors of economic activity in Ireland and is open to proposals from companies, institutions and public bodies. For 2015, the maximum amount of funding available is €60,000 per company/organisation. Grant aid is provided up to a maximum limit of 75% of the total eligible...

The Trade and Green Economy Handbook – produced by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), aims to boost the interaction between trade and the Green Economy, thus opening up new possibilities to drive sustainable development. In 2013, the financial volume of global trade amounted to US$23.4 trillion. At...

The Joint Research Council (JRC) has recently published a report which provides guidelines on implementing water reuse in Europe, and analyses the associated technical, environmental, health and socioeconomic challenges to such reuse. Water recycling and reuse is one of the answers to the water challenges in the urban, industrial and agricultural contexts; it can help...

To support innovation, especially by SMEs, ECHA has published an update to its Guidance on Scientific Research and Development (SR&D) and Product and Process Orientated Research and Development (PPORD) simultaneously with a new Guidance in a nutshell on the same subject. The REACH Regulation aims to ensure “a high level of protection of human health...

There are many reasons why Sustainability is good for business, including opportunities for SMEs to benefit. Potential to increase profits,  eg. reducing energy usage, waste, raw material and transport which all correlate directly to reducing costs. Fulfil the demand for greener products and services. There is a growing demand among consumers for greener and safer products and people are...

Danish brewing multinational Carlsberg has embarked on a major private sector initiative, involving many of its main suppliers, on the upcycling of beer cans, bottles and other packaging. Upcycling is the conversion of used materials into materials of equivalent or better quality. The Carlsberg initiative will address the need for greater resource efficiency and reuse...

The new ‘Blue Guide’ has been published.  It builds on the on the content of the Guide to the implementation of directives based on the New Approach and the Global Approach (the “Blue Guide”) published back in 2000, but reflects the modernisation brought to the legal framework in the past decade.  This new version of...

Sustainable procurement can often prove challenging due to: Complex Supply chains Varied voluntary standards Unclear definition on some ethical practices The Standards Map is an online platform to explore and compare sustainability standards which aims to simplify this process.  The tool was recently updated to include the latest standards and criteria. It is intended to Provide clear, comprehensive and verified...