624 tonnes: Easter eggs choc full of wrapping

HOUSEHOLDERS can save the carbon equivalent of 20,000 bags of coal by recycling the packaging from 6.4 million Easter eggs this weekend.

According to Repak, the annual chocolate splurge will result in the creation of 624 tonnes of additional used packaging — equivalent in weight to 78 killer whales.

The news comes as it emerged that chocolate egg manufacturers have done little to reduce the amount of packaging on their Easter products.

While Cadbury’s “eco-egg” has been praised for being retailed wrapped only in foil, the company’s average Dairy Milk egg has a chocolate volume of just 10% of the total product volume — the rest accounted for by cardboard, foil and plastic.

Other companies fare badly on the packaging stages, with some of Nestlé’s eggs having a chocolate volume of 9% of the total product. Lindt’s average egg comes up with the same figure, while Terry’s are on 13%, and Mars on 16%.

However, Repak say Irish consumers can offset their chocolate-eating guilt “by making an egg-stra effort to recycle over the Easter period.”

Easter egg boxes are not the only used packaging householders need to be aware of at this time.

House parties on Good Friday result in a significant increase in household packaging — seven million beverage cans and two million bottles of wine will be consumed.

Overall, the Easter festivities will generate more than 42,000 tonnes of used packaging. Repak are aiming to recycle 17,000 tonnes of this packaging and if they succeed it will result in 22,000 tonnes of carbon saved, which is the equivalent of taking 12,000 cars off our roads.

Repak is urging all households to use their household collections, recycling centres and BringBanks to recycle all of this used packaging rather than sending it to landfill.

Repak’s Darrell Crowe said: “We understand Easter is a time for celebration and present giving but we are just asking people to take a more environmentally friendly approach to the recycling of all the additional packaging we see at this time.

“We want to remind people the plastic moulds in eggs are generally of PET which is accepted into any plastic bottle collection scheme and the same goes for foil wrapping, putting these items in grey bins condemns them to a life in landfill whereas if they are recycled we are giving them a new life, so we ask that householders embrace the spirit of recycling this Easter by giving a new life into the old used packaging by recycling your used Easter packaging.”

* Householders can visit www.repak.ie for details of their local recycling centres.

Egg statistics

* Irish people will consume 6.4 million Easter eggs.

* The packaging would cover the Croke Park pitch seven times over.

* The aluminium foil waste from chocolate will total 17,270kg — equal to about 1,000 mountain bikes.

* The 376,596kg of card and paper waste would cover O’Connell Street in Dublin 90 times over.

* If the 230,295kg of plastic packaging was recycled, it would save 1.6 cubic kilometres of landfill space.

* 42,000 tonnes of used packaging, including cardboard and plastic from Easter eggs and bottles and cans from beverages will be produced this weekend.

* Last year, 40% of the Easter packaging was recycled.

* Household recycling went up by 7% in 2007, with 640,000 tonnes of packaging recovered after use.