There are five days remaining this year on which farmers can drop off hazardous waste for collection.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine; the Department of Climate, Energy and Environment; and agri-sector stakeholders have organised hazardous waste collection days to take place in various regions across the country.

There are five collection days now remaining.

These are:

Wednesday, September 23 - Ardee Livestock Sales, Drumgoolestown, Castlebellingham, Co. Louth (A92 VP92);
Tuesday, September 29 - Ballinasloe Co-Op Mart, Cleaghmore, Ballinasloe, Co. Galway (H53 YT53);
Wednesday, October 14 - Gowran Park Racecourse, Mill Road, Gowran Demesne, Co. Kilkenny (R95 AH5W);
Wednesday, October 21 - Punchestown Racecourse, Naas, Co. Kildare - W91 VCX4;
Wednesday, October 28 - Clonakilty Showgrounds, Park Road, Cloheen, Clonakilty, Co. Cork (P85 D654).

On each of these days, farmers can drop off hazardous waste between 9:00a.m and 5:00p.m.

A herd number or equivalent department registration will be required to avail of the service.

Waste must not be dropped off prior to the collection times, and all waste must be appropriately segregated prior to attending the collection.

The waste will remain the responsibility of the person dropping it off until it has been accepted by the waste company.

All waste must be identifiable and transported in a safe manner to the collection. Mixed or unidentifiable waste cannot be accepted.

Needles, syringes and other sharp objects must be in a separate sealed container.

Anonymous surveys will be carried out on the day to gather information on the collections.

In 2025, some 207t of hazardous waste was collected through official collection days.

The Department of Agriculture is encouraging farmers across all farm enterprises to avail of this service on one of the five remaining collection days for 2026.

Fertiliser closing stocks

Separately, the department has also confirmed that the window for fertiliser users, including farmers, to declare their closing stocks for the last year will open from next week.

It is a legal requirement for all professional fertiliser users to submit an annual closing stock declaration to the National Fertiliser Database, including a 'nil' declaration where no fertiliser is held.

Closing stocks are classified as any fertiliser on hand at 23.59p.m every September 14.

The online facility for declaring closing fertiliser stock for 2026 therefore opens next Tuesday (September 15), and declarations must be made by October 15.