Cape Clear Island in West Cork, Ireland Pioneers Sustainable Waste Management for Island Communities with MyGug
The Challenge
Food waste management was a significant challenge for Islanders on Cape Clear, Ireland’s southernmost inhabited Gaeltacht Island, located 8 miles off the coast of West Cork. Cape Clear is a thriving community and popular tourist destination. The island is also home to a unique bird observatory, which has been maintaining a daily species log since 1959.
Issues with food waste including a lack of bin collection services, odour, contamination and associated environmental risks, created everyday problems for the community as well as endangering the delicate eco-system on the island. MyGug was the sustainable solution.
The Solution
Sustainability, circularity, collaboration and education:
Given the challenge faced around food waste management, the community on Cape Clear Island had to find a solution to deal with their food waste at source, a solution that would be self-sustaining. A Community Response and Actions for a Sustainable Future for Cape Clear Group (Tograí Chléire) took action to preserve the environmental and economic future of the Island with its rich culture, and to enhance the wellbeing of Islanders.
A MyGug digester was piloted with the support of Cork County Council’s Community Climate Action Plan, addressing the problem and turning food waste into a valuable resource – clean energy.
Mary O’Driscoll, Tograí Chléire emphasises that: “Sustainability is key in an island community. Our environment is a delicate one which needs to be protected, and the correct management of waste is an important factor in doing this. Heretofore food waste was being put in the sea or buried in the ground so disturbing the eco system.”
She continues: “Now with our “Gug” we are recycling food waste, including plate waste and liquids, producing biogas for community cooking events and bio-fertiliser is available in recycled cartons for all the community’, highlighting ‘the uniqueness of this method’. “The novelty value makes it a very interesting solution. MyGug serves all the requirements for sustainable food waste management. The company has been very supportive, and we trust them totally,” according to O’Driscoll.
On Cape Clear, MyGug is open for recycling 4 days a week managed by a voluntary team. The long-term goal is to educate the entire community in the easy use of MyGug. Tograi Chleire are installing a polytunnel and will create a gardening hub to facilitate food growing, making the best use of MyGug liquid plant food.
MyGug’s green technology provides a sustainable food waste management solution for communities and generates a free source of clean cooking gas or water heating, in addition to liquid plant food.
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Key Benefits
Research Value
The unit can treat 6.7 Tonnes of food waste per year (18kg of food waste per day) which produces up to 3300L of biogas per year (equivalent to 670kg of compressed gas).
- Immediate reduction in carbon emissions from food waste
- Overall quantities of food waste reduced
- Supply of clean energy
- Energy savings on fossil fuel use
- Savings on food waste collection and associated environmental costs
- Creation of micro circular economy
- Elimination of practical and environmental issues associated with food waste on the island.
Training: A designated group of Islanders, (Tógraí Cléire) have received specialist training on how to use the MyGug system, as well as understanding how the process works.
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