A recycling plant in Clondlakin, Dublin, has been completely destroyed in a fire, it has been reported.

Thirteen units from Dublin Fire Brigade were called to the Oxigen Recycling plant in Merrywell Industrial Estate in Clondalkin at 3am on Saturday morning (25 January) to tackle a ‘major blaze’.

Around nine units currently remain on site and have contained the fire, which burnt the building that housed the material processing plant to the ground.

As the facility stored a range of household recycling materials, including gas cylinders and metal canisters, there were reports of several small ‘explosions’ on Saturday morning. However, these are not thought to be a threat to the general public.

Nonetheless, the fire brigade is advising local residents to keep windows and doors closed due to the toxic nature of the smoke, with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) adding that ‘older people should also reduce physical exertion’ due to the pollution.

A spokesperson for Dublin Fire Brigade said: "It's going to be a long, drawn-out fire. There's a lot of baled, recycled material there and it's always going to be tricky to put out that.

"The plant contains recycled plastic, which is giving off that thick black smoke, so we're advising people nearby to keep their windows and doors closed.

"We're advising anyone with respiratory problems to get out and go to a friend's house. But we're not putting an evacuation in place."

Oxigen Environmental, which operates a number of recycling facilities throughout Ireland, has issued a statement saying it would ‘like to assure all customers that the fire at [the] Ballymount, Dublin, site will not disrupt any services’. It added that it hopes to relocate as many of its 60 operatives as soon as possible.

Irish police said the cause of the fire was still unknown, but an investigation will begin imminently.

There were no reports of any injuries.

Tackling waste fires

Waste site fires are commonplace, with figures released last year showing that between 2001 and 2012, the average rate of fires at waste and recycling works came in at just under one per day.

Further to the environmental and social damage that waste fires cause, the cost of clearing up such fires is extensive; the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has revealed that emergency services in Scotland spent £15.9 million tackling 8,000 waste fires in 2012/13.

The Environment Agency has released guidance aimed at reducing the outbreak of fire at waste storage sites. Prepared in partnership with the Chief Fire Officers Association (CFOA), the new Technical Guidance Note (TGN) ‘Reducing Fire Risk at Sites Storing Combustible Materials’, identifies a range of measures that operators of waste storage sites should implement to minimise the risk of fire.