Consumers urged to increase recycling effort

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

Irish people recycled almost half a million tonnes of used packaging last year, but Repak said the amount can be increased with more effort.

Repak chief Andrew Hetherington said recent media reports suggested that Dublin and other counties could run out of landfill space by the end of 2007.

He called for more rubbish to be separated into paper, glass, wood and metal and brought to recycling sites rather than simply dumped in wheelie bins.

“A lot of effort by consumers, industry and the Government is already being made but more recycling is always possible,” he said.

Figures released yesterday show that around half of all paper, cardboard, glass and metal is being recycled but only one-fifth of all plastics.

The amount of material recycled last year was enough to fill 239,500 refuse trucks stretching from Cork to Donegal.

Ireland recycled:

* 200,523 tonnes (42%) of all paper and cardboard packaging during 2004, a 14% increase on 2003.

* 106,000 tonnes of wood (up 20%)

* 87,717 tonnes (63%) of all glass (up 17%)

* 39,000 tonnes (21%) of all plastic (up 15%)

* 46,000 tonnes (50%) of all metals (up 10%)

The 5th annual Repak Recycling Week from October 3-9 will have the theme: ‘Keep Recycling - Let’s Get it Sorted.’

It will feature a series of nationwide educational and promotional campaigns.