Eco-business grants spell green success

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Ireland have reported that their scheme to encourage green business practices among Ireland-based companies has been a huge success.

The EPA’s Cleaner Greener Production Programme was set up to encourage Irish businesses and organisations to take up greener business practices.

The grant part of the programme was particularly successful, as it challenged businesses to produce both goods and services in more eco-friendly ways, resulting in minimised emissions due to cleaner methods of production.

The Director of the EPA’s office of environmental assessment, Larry Stapleton, said of the scheme: “The objective was to demonstrate how economic activity can be achieved in harmony with the environment.

“There is a developing demand for environmentally sound products and services both in the EU and across international markets and indeed, environmental performance is fast becoming a marketing tool.”

In total, 22 projects were funded by the scheme, all of which achieved improvements, including water usage and wastewater reductions of 250,000 tonnes every year, saving €1.6 million.

In the next phase of the programme the EPA will make €2 million of grants available to businesses and organisations.