SEVEN hundred pieces of waste packaging were recycled every second last year, with enough paper and cardboard recycled to save almost five million trees.

WE are spending billions on the banks so what’s €23 million on Easter eggs? We need a bit of comfort-eating in these dark days.

NEW research shows that Irish people have much better recycling habits at home than in the workplace.

ENOUGH alcohol to fill Lough Derg more than 50 times will be consumed by revellers this Christmas, as households are being asked to wrap their celebrations in green this year.

Donal Hickey on the huge amount of glass being returned

DON’T let packaging snowball out of control this Christmas, Repak has warned.

OVER 200 tonnes of polystyrene will be diverted from landfill in the greater Dublin region over the next 12 months as a result of a new recycling service launched yesterday.

AS our eating habits change, more and more of our food comes wrapped in various forms of aluminium. For instance, more than 90 million aluminium trays are used each day in Ireland, a staggering figure by any standards.

RECYCLING rates continue to improve but many homes may not be focusing enough on composting food waste or recycling clothes, garden waste and electrical goods, research has found.

IRELAND is recycling more than twice the weight of its population every year, according to the annual report of Repak.

Figures released by Repak today show a significant increase in packaging recycling, from 565,000 tonnes in 2005 to 603,000 tonnes recycled in 2006.

TRAVEL outside any Irish town, on a Monday morning, for about just as long as it takes to eat a carton of chips and you’re almost certain to find packaging strewn around the roadside.

EACH Irish household will generate 60kg of used packaging over Christmas, and 164 million drink containers — including alcoholic and non-alcoholic cans and bottles — will be discarded.

People were urged to think green this Christmas with households expected to booze their way through millions of bottles of wine and beer.

Donal Hickey on why recycling becomes a much bigger job during the festive season.

HOUSEHOLDS are being urged to recycle a record-breaking 15,000 tonnes of used packaging this month.

THE amount of alcohol drunk by each adult over the holiday season is equivalent to more than twice the volume of blood running through them.

ALMOST one-in-three people admit to littering or dumping at bring banks, a survey has revealed.

CONSUMERS need to recycle more so that Ireland doesn’t run out of landfill space, a waste watchdog said yesterday.

Industry groups were today urged to increase efforts to minimise product packaging at a major recycling conference.

The closure of the Smurfit Paper Mill in Dublin is a significant blow to recycling in Ireland, according to packaging recycling scheme Repak.

WE HAVE officially confirmed our status as a nation of drinkers.

Each household will consume almost 30 litres of alcohol and beer in a major binge this Christmas, it emerged tonight.

Ireland is on course to meet the EU target of 50% recycling after a leap in the amount of materials recycled in 2003.

IRELAND is throwing away €43 million every year by burying plastic bottles instead of recycling them, according to a report published yesterday.

Repak, the industry-funded used packaging compliance scheme, has slammed the Vintners' Federation of Ireland call on the Minister for the Environment to introduce a levy on non-returnable containers and packaging as unworkable and self-serving.

CHRISTMAS shoppers will spend a phenomenal €18 million an hour today.

Householders will generate enough packaging waste this Christmas to cover Lansdowne rugby pitch 336 times.

ANTI-BIN charge campaigners have been accused of targeting the wrong people by returning trolleys laden with packaging to some Dublin outlets operated by Superquinn, Tesco and Dunnes Stores.

VOLUNTEERS are being sought to give Ireland a spring clean.

People are being asked on the last day of Christmas to recycle their waste.

Local authorities have teamed up with Repak recycling and encouraged people to get rid of their Christmas waste in an environmentally friendly way.

Repak, the industry funded waste packaging compliance scheme has today launched its recycling hints and tips campaign in an effort to recycle over 300 tonnes at 60 special Green Christmas Centres throughout Ireland.

EMPLOYERS’ group, IBEC, has backed the Government’s stance on the need for incinerators, even though 33% of packaging waste was recycled last year.

Irish households could eventually face bin charges of thousands of euros if recycling of household packaging is not successful, according to Repak.

Irish consumers and businesses need to recycle more in order to meet the doubling of Ireland's EU packaging targets by 2005, it was claimed today.

Waste packaging scheme Repak is to invest €3.9m in establishing 850 new bring sites nationwide.

The country’s recycling watchdog, Repak is calling for the public to adopt a more flexible approach to recycling.

The Repak group has called on the Government and politicians to establish a task force to explore ways of saving the Irish Glass recycling plant in Dublin from closure.