More than 20 kilos of used packaging was recycled per second last year in Ireland, according to packaging recycling scheme Repak.
The results were announced at the launch of Repak Recycling Week, which runs 4-10 October, and this year encourages people to recycle more by targeting recycling in the workplace.
According to the Repak, 644,000 tonnes of used packaging or the equivalent of 24.3 million green bins was recycled at a cost of €28.9m.
This places Ireland at No 8 of the 27 EU member states, with a packaging recycling rate of 65pc, ahead of Sweden, the UK, France and Denmark.
A great achievement
“Last year, each Irish household recycled over 144 kilos of cans, bottles, boxes and other used packaging types. This is a great achievement and shows what can be achieved as we become more of a recycling society. However, Ireland’s future targets continue to grow and we need to grow the amount that people recycle not only at home but also in the workplace. This year, we are targeting the recycling of an additional 17,500 extra tonnes of packaging during October,” commented Dr Andrew Hetherington, CEO, Repak.
This year’s recycling week aims to encourage people to bring the good recycling habits they have developed at home into the workplace and outside the home with a series of initiatives that include the launch of recycling locations on Garmin sat-nav maps, free promotion for a Garmin sat-nav system with Irish, UK and western maps and Irish recycling locations pre-loaded, free electrical and battery recycling days, downloadable posters for the office, and a national awareness advertising campaign.
