Oxigen Environmental is an Irish owned recycling and waste management company serving over 100,000 domestic and commercial customers across 16 counties since its foundation in 1988. With more than 350 employees we are a recognised leader in integrated environmental services working closely with local authorities, businesses and communities to promote recycling and reduce reliance on landfill.
Our operations are built on the principles of the circular economy, maximising the value of resources through high quality segregation, efficient recovery and strong partnerships with Irish and EU reprocesses. By ensuring that recyclable materials are returned to the supply chain and non recyclables are directed to energy recovery we actively contribute to waste reduction and resource efficiency. Guided by our ISO 14001:2015 certified Environmental Management System and a culture of continuous improvement Oxigen is committed to delivering reliable services while supporting Ireland’s transition to a more sustainable circular economy.
Circular Economy & Waste Reduction
Our mission is to reduce landfill dependency and maximise resource recovery. Key initiatives include:
- Investment in Recycling Facilities: Oxigen has invested in our Commercial & Construction waste processing facility to increase material recovery, sort & segregate more recyclables to ultimately reduce the volume of waste going for landfill disposal. Over 95% of all wastes now managed are diverted from landfill disposal.
- Organics Management: In line with the government roll out of brown bins, Oxigen has been working since January 2024 to expand brown bin deliveries, collections and processing, to divert food and garden waste away from landfill.
- Partnering with top recovery facilities: Oxigen has partnered with a number of recovery facilities such as Regen Waste Management. These waste recovery facilities have the best technologies available to sort and process mixed recyclable waste; it is ever improving and updating, as the need for waste recovery grows.
Community Engagement: Running awareness campaigns and working with schools, businesses and local authorities to improve recycling behaviours. Oxigen’s works with a number of schools for educational trips to our Civic Amenities Sites, as well as organising talks for community groups and businesses about what we do and the importance of waste management and recycling.
Challenges in Infrastructure Development
Infrastructure delays caused by complex planning and licensing can slow progress on urgently needed recycling and recovery facilities. This uncertainty makes it harder to plan investment and deliver new capacity in line with Ireland’s climate targets. To mitigate this, we are engaging early with regulators and local authorities to streamline applications. Additionally, we are phasing projects so that incremental capacity can come online sooner.
Often, delays are inevitable and even with early planning and engagement, there are some difficulties faced in the process. Ultimately, we believe a more agile, coordinated licensing system would accelerate Ireland’s circular economy transition.
Workforce Challenges
Like many in the sector, we face a shortage of qualified HGV drivers, compounded by delays in bringing in skilled workers from abroad. To address this, Oxigen is:
- Investing in driver training and apprenticeship programmes to attract new talent locally. Oxigen offer paid apprenticeships all year round: https://oxigen.ie/join-the-team/commercial-driver-apprenticeships
- Providing career progression pathways across our logistics and operations teams.
- Using technology and route optimisation to reduce reliance on additional fleet capacity.
- Continuing to engage with the government on reducing administrative bottlenecks for international recruitment.
Waste & Energy Recovery
Oxigen delivers recovered timber streams to Biomass Fuel Producers such as McKinstry Biomass in Co. Down who further process that stream to produce high quality biomass fuel for Combined Heat & Power facilities in Northern Ireland.
Oxigen process & segregate non-recyclable wastes to produce a residual waste stream that is a feedstock for producers of SRF- Solid Recovered Fuel. SRF is used as alternative fuel substituting coal in cement production facilities.
Oxigen also produces other non-recyclable residual waste streams for use in Ireland’s two ‘energy from waste facilities’ where they produce electricity and heat for houses/businesses in the locality.
Oxigen collects source segregated organic / food waste streams that can be recycled via composting & anaerobic digestion facilities.
Composting is an aerobic process that produces nutrient rich compost that is utilised in agriculture for food production.
Energy (in form of heat & electricity) is recovered from organic wastes at Anaerobic Digestion facilities such as Granville Ecopark in Co. Tyrone
These projects ensure that waste not suitable for recycling is still used productively, supporting Ireland’s renewable energy mix.
Policy & Regulatory Support – Long-Term Vision
Over the next five to ten years, Oxigen Environmental will continue its strong presence in waste management while further strengthening our position in resource recovery and circular solutions. The sector is being shaped by several key drivers, including tighter EU and national climate policies that push for higher recycling and landfill diversion, technological innovation such as smarter sorting systems and AI-driven logistics, and the growth of energy-from-waste solutions like anaerobic digestion and biomass recovery.
We also see increasing opportunities for collaboration with manufacturers and retailers to embed circular principles into product and packaging design. Our long-term vision is to support Ireland in achieving a fully integrated circular economy, where waste is transformed into valuable resources for new products and renewable energy.
Message to Other Guaranteed Irish Members
We encourage fellow Guaranteed Irish members to view waste not as a cost, but as an opportunity to create value and contribute to Ireland’s circular economy. By partnering with Oxigen Environmental, businesses can strengthen their sustainability credentials, reduce landfill dependency, and collaborate on innovative initiatives such as closed-loop packaging and food waste-to-energy projects.
With our trusted local expertise and commitment to responsible resource management, we ensure that waste is managed efficiently and sustainably — right here in Ireland. Together, we can build a cleaner, more resource-efficient future that supports Irish jobs, communities, and the environment.
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