Drop Down Menu
  Search...
 

Council warning on Halloween bonfires 31.10.08

BUSINESSES and households in Inishowen have been warned not to dispose of waste items such as old furniture or mattresses on bonfires this Halloween.
According to Donegal County Council, communities are preparing for the time old tradition of lighting bonfires to celebrate Halloween, but while traditionally wood and straw were used for bonfires there is increasing evidence that individuals are using Halloween as an opportunity to dispose of waste illegally.
Waste awareness officer with the council Suzanne Tinney told the Inishowen Independent that providing household waste material for burning in a Halloween bonfire is committing a criminal offence.
“Materials such as tyres, pallets, sofas, mattresses, furniture and ordinary household rubbish are often burnt releasing harmful dioxins into the air damaging our health and the environment.
“Donegal County Council is aware that businesses may also be supplying waste materials such as tyres and pallets to local communities to burn on bonfire night. This practice is unacceptable, under the Waste Management (Packaging) Regulations 2003 all businesses now have an obligation to recycle specified waste streams.”
Ms Tinney said that tyres in particular are frequently burnt on bonfires even though they produce toxic fumes, releasing dioxins into the air damaging our health and the environment.
“It is important for the public to remember that there is a long list of pollutants that can potentially be generated by backyard burning regardless of whether the waste is burned in piles in the back of the garden, in barrels or in open pits. We want people to enjoy their halloween celebrations but we want them to do it responsibly and without bonfires,” she concluded.
Return to > Top Stories    > News    > Home