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KWD’s state of the art recycling plantin Forge Hill been named as Ireland’s top Waste Recycling and Recovery Facility.

Thefacility, which can now serve the recycling needs of 400,000 homes in the country’s Southern Region, was awarded the accolade recently, at the fourth annual Packman Awards run by Repak.

KWD managing director Sean Murphy said the award is a tribute to the work ethos of the company’s 110 staff and the Forge Hill team in particular.

“KWD has adopted a sustainable approach to waste management in the South West of Ireland since its foundation in 1986, investing consistently in state of the art facilities, such as Forge Hill, deploying the latest technology to eliminate detrimental impacts on the environment, and the Pakman award recognises this,” Mr Murphy said.

The national Packman Awards launched by Repak recognise excellence in waste management and recycling among businesses, organisations and community groups in Ireland.

Mr Murphy said the Packman awards consolidates the KWD group as a leader in sustainable recycling and follows company initiatives such as the Environmental Education and Awareness Initiative engaging 4,000 school goers, and the now annual County Clean Up which began in 2012, with 5,000 volunteers collecting 8,000 bags of rubbish this year.

The Kerry based company plans to increase the number of households it serves through its Forge Hill facility in the coming years. The extra capacity will be needed as local authorities throughout the country introduce new bye-laws from January next, with the powers to call to homes and businesses to demand receipts for rubbish disposal under robust new waste management regimes to be launched in Cork and Kerry.

The hard-hitting bye-laws will ensure all citizens dispose of their waste by using an authorised waste contractor, by taking it to an approved waste facility, or by a bin-sharing agreement. Offenders could also face fines of up to €2,500 for putting recyclables into their rubbish bins or for not storing bins properly.