The company says the investment will mean that 135,000 tonnes of waste - that would otherwise end up on landfill each year - will instead by recycled. This will increase recycling rates from 42% to 70% for commercial and industrial waste. The site will also have the ability to recycle 95% of construction and demolition waste. It will deal with waste from the greater Dublin area.

Euro 3.5 million of the investment went towards the building of a new green office for the facility's 130 staff. According to Greenstar, which is part of Irish conglomerate NTR, the latest investment brings its total spending over the past seven years to Euro 275 million.

'If Ireland is serious about meeting its EU waste targets before the looming 2010 deadline, then the Government needs to create the right regulatory environment to encourage investment in alternative, viable technologies,' says Steve Cowman, chief executive of Greenstar.