Firms dreaming of a recycled Christmas
Repak, the industry-funded recycling scheme, has revealed that 530,000 tonnes of waste were recycled in 2005.
The amount of waste recycled has increased by 12% compared to last year, when 479,000 tonnes of waste were recycled. This means that a fifth of all packaging that is produced here is now recycled.
Repak’s marketing manager, Darrell Crowe said: “Ireland has achieved a lot of success in recycling in a short space of time.”
But it seems Irish people are more concerned about their pockets than the environment. According to Mr Crowe, the increase in recycling is mostly thanks to the pay-by-weight or pay-by-use system for refuse collection which was introduced at the beginning of the year.
“For the first time people are really seeing the financial benefits of recycling and this has proved to be a huge incentive,” he said.
We produce 30% more waste over the holiday period, and because this is the first Christmas under the pay-by-weight system, Repak estimates that households will pay an extra €34 to get their rubbish collected at this time of year.
They are urging people to recycle their Christmas waste to save money.
Meanwhile, some local authorities are reporting a 40% drop in the amount of refuse they are collecting since the introduction of pay-by-weight.
“With Dublin and other places reported to run out of landfill space in two years’ time and with the rise in landfill charges, recycling is becoming a more viable option for businesses,” said Mr Crowe.
The Environmental Protection Agency has said it will publish its annual report on waste production in the New Year.
Its latest figures, which cover 2003, show that three million tonnes of waste were produced last year. Half of this came from private households.
