February 2002 News items

TES AWARDED CPD ACCREDITATION

TES Consulting and Tobin Consulting Engineers were awarded CPD Accreditation by the IEI on Friday February 8th 2002. The presentation of the IEI CPD Accreditation Award was made following the Presidential Address by Liam Connellan in the Radisson Hotel Galway. TES is the first environmental consultancy pratice to achieve this distinction.

(L-r) Sean Finlay (TES Consulting Engineers) Liam Connellan (IEI President) and Eamon Waldron (Tobin Consulting Engineers).

LITTER MONITORING BODY ANNUAL REPORT 2002

TES presented Mr Dan Wallace T.D., Minister of State at the Department of the Environment and Local Government their second Annual Report under the National Litter Pollution Monitoring System on the 14 February 2002. TES are the consultants appointed by the Minister to develop and oversee local authority implementation of the System.

Minister Wallace described the Monitoring System as an environmental management tool that enables local authorities to tackle litter more effectively. Minister Wallace said "the Monitoring System provides a framework for consistent and accurate self-assessment by local authorities - irrespective of the nature and size of their areas. The System will consolidate all litter-related data held by local authorities into a single, standardised and documented format; it is an essential tool in monitoring litter and local authority progress in tackling it."

According to the Report, by last December over 70 local authorities had begun implementation of the Monitoring System. Of those, 20 had carried out, or were in the process of carrying out, their "benchmark" litter surveys. A total of 52 local authorities were also in the process of identifying and mapping the potential litter generators in their areas; completion of these stages allows local authorities to proceed to carry out their litter surveys.

TES will conduct two further surveys - later this month and in April 2002 - to assess continuing local authority progress with system implementation. It is envisaged that all local authorities will have completed their "benchmark" surveys this year and that a comprehensive overview of national litter pollution levels will be available by end 2002.

The Annual Report can be downloaded in PDF format by clicking here.

The latest Local Authority Information Updates have been added to the Litter Monitoring section of the website. Click here for a direct link.