Environment Minister John Gormley will launch a free online service this morning which allows householders to swap and reuse unwanted items which would otherwise be landfilled.
It is hoped the free Waste Matchers initiative, based in Macroom, Co Cork, will divert tonnes of material from dumps across the city and county.
The website is a joint venture between Cork County Council's Environmental Awareness and Research Unit, Cork City Council, the South Cork Enterprise Board and Macroom E Ltd.
They established an online waste exchange programme aimed at businesses on a pilot basis more than a year ago and almost 470 businesses signed up.
They advertised unwanted items like wooden pallets, office furniture, cardboard boxes, and a vast range of technological equipment which were poised to go to the dump.
Other businesses were able to find uses for these items.
Macroom E manager Maeve Bowen said a food company based in Kerry even advertised egg whites, while another business advertised tonnes of horse manure.
Alternative uses were found for all the items, she said.
The success of the business element prompted the partners to set up a section aimed at housesholds.
This section, which will be launched this morning, provides an online database for members of the public to post their unwanted materials online.
Items can range from motor parts to musical instruments, pottery to pet goods, and garden furniture to electronic equipment.
Browsers can then log on and search for these unwanted items and find another use for them.
The website is free and household items are offered free of charge to others.
"Users of the website are helping to protect their local environment and saving money by getting useful goods," said Ms Bowen.
The website will be managed by a team based in the Macroom E business centre based in the Macroom E Environmental Industrial Park in Co Cork.
The park encourages eco-friendly companies to locate in Macroom, generating industry and employment in the Lee Valley region.
www.wastematchers.com
Eoin English
Irish Examiner
www.buckplanning.ie
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