The Icelandic Environment and Energy Agency Iceland offers courses in infection prevention for individuals who perform any type of skin penetration, such as body piercing, tattooing, cosmetic tattooing, and needling. The course is mandatory for those who have not completed education in the healthcare field that includes training in hygiene and infection control. As of January 1, 2026, all those who perform skin piercing must be able to provide confirmation that they have taken the course or have the required education in the health sector. See further in paragraph 2, Article 34 of Regulation No. 903/2024 on hygiene standards. About the Course The course covers all aspects related to performing skin penetration procedures, with special emphasis on infection control and hygiene. The course consists of lectures and demonstrations. At the end of the course, participants must pass a competency test. It is necessary to bring a smart device in order to complete the test. Instructors: Ása S. Atladóttir, nurse Brynjar Björnsson, tattoo artist Ísak S. Bragason, head of chemicals unit at the Icelandic Environment and Energy Agency Sigríður Kristinsdóttir, head of inspections unit at the Icelandic Environment and Energy Agency Stella Hrönn Jóhannsdóttir, specialist in the inspections unit at the Icelandic Environment and Energy Agency Course Date Tuesday 2 December from 9 AM to 4 PM Instruction in Icelandic. Registration deadline: November 30. Final payment deadline: December 2. Course Fee The course fee is ISK 49,900. A payment slip will be sent to the applicant’s online bank, and a copy of the invoice will appear under “Mínar síður” on island.is. Location The course will be held at Hotel Reykjavík Grand, Sigtún 28, 105 Reykjavík. Registration Registration takes place at https://gogn.ust.is/ Registration is confirmed once the course fee has been paid. Minimum number of participants The minimum number of participants for the course is 40 people. The course will be cancelled if the minimum number of participants is not reached.

The Icelandic Environment and Energy Agency Iceland offers courses in infection prevention for individuals who perform any type of skin penetration, such as body piercing, tattooing, cosmetic tattooing, and needling. The course is mandatory for those who have not completed education in the healthcare field that includes training in hygiene and infection control. See further in paragraph 2, Article 34 of Regulation No. 903/2024 on hygiene standards. About the Course The course covers all aspects related to performing skin penetration procedures, with special emphasis on infection control and hygiene. The course consists of lectures and demonstrations. At the end of the course, participants must pass a competency test. It is necessary to bring a smart device in order to complete the test. Instructors: Ása S. Atladóttir, nurse Brynjar Björnsson, tattoo artist Ísak S. Bragason, head of chemicals unit at the Icelandic Environment and Energy Agency Stella Hrönn Jóhannsdóttir, specialist in the inspections unit at the Icelandic Environment and Energy Agency Course Dates Two course dates are available: Wednesday, June 25, from 09:00 to 16:00. Instruction in Icelandic. Registration deadline: June 15. Tuesday, July 8, from 09:00 to 16:00. Instruction in English. Registration deadline: June 23. Location The course will be held at Hotel Reykjavík Grand, Sigtún 28, 105 Reykjavík. Course Fee The course fee is ISK 49,900. A payment slip will be sent to the applicant’s online bank, and a copy of the invoice will appear under “Mínar síður” on island.is. Final payment deadline for the June 25 course: June 16 Final payment deadline for the July 8 course: June 29 Registration Registration takes place at https://gogn.ust.is/ Registration is confirmed once the course fee has been paid. Waiting List Applicants on the waiting list will be contacted two days after the final payment deadline.

Food waste in Iceland is equivalent to about 160 kilos per inhabitant per year. Almost half of all food waste occurs in food primary production and about 40% in households. For the first time, the Environment and Energy Agency has measured food waste in the whole value chain of food according to the standardized European Union methodology. The results have been presented before, but now a detailed report has been published, see here. The report describes the methodology, main definitions and results of the study. Iceland has set the goal of reducing food waste, both as part of a climate action plan and as part of our contribution to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The minimization of food waste is a climate and economic matter, and an important part of the implementation of the circular economy. The measurements of food waste reached the entire value chain. Where does food waste occur? The measurements of food waste covered the entire value chain, that is the primary production, processing and manufacturing, distribution and retail, restaurants and food services, and households. The results show that food waste is largest in primary production and households. Food waste in primary production is primarily explained by the fisheries sector, where the amount of production is high. The results of the research indicate that the food waste in households has not increased since 2016 and 2019, but have been pretty much in place. However, it is difficult to generalize about the changes between years as it is a changed methodology. The most important thing is to reduce food waste in households, because that is where the largest value is lost.  In addition, the most environmental impact will be when food is wasted in homes. Food prices have risen in the last few years in Iceland and a lot can be gained by reducing food waste with the aim of improving the economy of households. However, the responsibility is not only on the households, the businesses and manufacturers need to contribute by designing and marketing their products with food waste in mind. Food waste in four of the five links in the value chain is below the European average. Iceland looks good Food waste in four of the five links of the value chain is below the European average. Waste in processing and manufacturing, retail and distribution and the food service sector is somewhat below the European average. The extent of food waste in households is similar to what is happening in other European countries. Food waste from primary production is above average, but goes hand in hand with high food production per inhabitant in Iceland. Ambitious goals The action plan, Minni matarsóun (e. Less food waste), which was launched in the fall of 2021, contains 24 operations to reduce food waste and contribute to achieving Iceland's set goals of reducing food waste by 30% by 2025 and by 50% by 2030. The metrics in the report will be used as a baseline for these goals. The status of the operations within the action plan in the beginning of 2025 is this: The action plan Less food waste contains 24 operations and this is their status in the beginning of 2025 Further details on food waste and research On food waste studies - methodology and results (Icelandic) Reduced food waste - action plan against food waste Action plan in climate change Matarsoun.is - Together against waste

Icelanders are very fond of used products, but until now it has not been known how much is reused every year. A new study shows that recycling in Iceland was 19.93 kg/inhabitant in 2023. With the ever-increasing activity of flea markets, social media and the increased environmental awareness of the public in Iceland, the reuse market has gained a foothold. Reuse contributes to a richer circular economy in Iceland. Reuse is a more environmentally friendly and usually more economical option than buying new products. The Environment Agency published a report at the end of 2024 with the results of mapping reuse in Iceland in 2023. This is the first time that reuse has been measured in Iceland on this scale. View the report (only in icelandic) What is reuse? The concept of reuse is defined in the Waste Management Act no. 55/2003 as: 'any operation where products or components, which are not waste, are used for the same purpose for which they were originally intended.' An example of reuse is when used products are sold in online sales, marketplaces on social media, thrift markets or given as donations between people. Reuse is part of waste prevention. Reuse usually without intermediaries When measuring and calculating reuse, pan-European methodology was used. Reuse was measured for the product categories: Furniture Textile Electronics Building material Other Data from known data sources were used in combination with the percentage of non-intermediate reuse. To calculate that percentage, a survey was sent out to the public regarding reuse in their homes. The results of the questionnaire gave a picture of the percentage of intermediary-free reuse for each product category. This percentage was over 60% for all product categories. Results for the proportion of non-intermediate reuse from a public survey Clothes less than 3% Total recycling in Iceland was 19.93 kg/person in 2023. Furniture was the largest part of recycling (40%), followed by building materials (29%), electrical and electronic devices (14%), textiles (3%) and other (14% ), by weight. Breakdown of reuse into product categories Looking further down by product category, clothing accounted for the largest share of textile reuse. A large market has developed in Iceland for the resale of clothes, and used clothes are also often given away. Most of the reuse of construction materials was wood. Growing market The fact that Icelanders reuse about 20 kg/inhabitant of products per year shows that there is a culture of reuse here. The majority of reuse takes place through intermediary-free channels free of charge. Reuse keeps products in the circular economy longer. During data collection, it became clear that the turnover of flea markets has been increasing in recent years. Based on this escalation, it can be assumed that the reuse market in Iceland will only strengthen in the near future.