On the 1st of June 2015 all mixtures placed on the Irish market must be classified, labelled and packaged in accordance with CLP and a lot of work has to be done in advance to achieve this. During 2014 the Health and Safety Authority will continue to raise awareness among stakeholders about classification of mixtures, what it...

Members of the public throughout Limerick are being encouraged to adopt a Stop Food Waste Resolution to help reduce the estimated €700 worth of food that is thrown away by Irish families each year. The Environment Department of Limerick City & County Council issued the call to coincide with the beginning of European Year against Food Waste....

Happy New Year to all our clients, research partners and network of contacts.  We look forward to working with you on the range of projects which we have planned for ECOS this year. 2014 will be an exiting year for us with major plans to develop the business in anticipation of the future needs of...

ECOS has a set of values which governs our approach to business and relationships with our colleagues and clients. Inclusive: Our projects are designed with our clients to address their needs. We work with people, rather than just for clients.  We encourage engagement and buy-in of stakeholders. We engage with our extensive contact network, including regulators, research partners,...

The European Communities (Environmental Liability) Regulations 2008, came into force in Ireland on 1 April 2009 with regard to the prevention and remedying of environmental damage. The purpose of these Regulations is to establish a framework of environmental liability based on the ‘polluter-pays’ principle, to prevent and remedy environmental damage and introduce a reporting obligation...

Here are a few thoughts and comments on environmental protection from different perspectives. We need to accept the seemingly obvious fact that a toxic environment can make people sick and that no amount of medical intervention can protect us. The health care community must become a powerful political lobby for environmental policy and legislation. – Andrew...

The EU-funded project EUCERTPLAST (‘European certification of plastics recyclers’) has developed a common certification scheme for post-consumer plastics recycling in Europe. Such a scheme helps recyclers and waste collectors, who would be able to guarantee that the plastic waste they collect is actually being recycled (rather than traded) and that this is done in a sustainable manner....

Recent newspaper headlines reported: Water charges are set to go up every year for families because Irish Water (IW) will be allowed to increase the rate. Households who stop wasting water and reduce their consumption could still end up with higher bills. Irish Water will be able to seek an annual hike in water charges...

A new data viewer from the European Environment Agency (EEA) allows users to access data on urban wastewater and treatment plants. The new data viewer, part of the Water Information System for Europe (WISE) has been developed to facilitate the use and display of data already reported under the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (UWWTD). The new UWWTD data viewer...

REACH is widely regarded as expensive by Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs). The overall (direct) cost estimates of REACH specified in the 29 October 2003 Impact Assessment turned out to be an underestimate by nearly one half. By 2012 the difference added up to around EUR 1 billion; by 2018 this might have gone...