Councils make it easy to recycle Christmas trees

THE turkey is finished. All the presents are opened.

Now it’s time to discard of the Christmas tree.

Although many trees will be taken to recycling centres, others will be dumped in a less eco-friendly fashion.

In this era of “reduce, reuse, recycle” the public is being urged not to dump their trees unceremoniously on the roadside.

Darragh Crowe from Repak said it was imperative that people visit their local recycling point.

“There are more and more options than ever to properly dispose of the trees. So there is no reason for people not to bring them to the many available outlets.”

Many councils have opened up centres where the public can dispose of their trees for free.

Dublin City Council has opened its collection points and trees can be deposited at a range of centres until January 22.

The two local authorities in Cork are accepting trees until January 31, free of charge. There is a wide range of facilities set up across the city and county.

Galway County Council will accept trees during normal working hours from January 7-14 at the waste water treatment plant in Prospect, Athenry.

In Waterford, trees can be brought to the Kilbarry civic amenity site during normal working hours.

Most other local authorities will have details of tree disposal from today.

Repak is also calling on the public to make an extra effort to recycle the excess packaging and waste that accumulates over Christmas.

Overall, Repak estimates that householders generated about 220,000 tonnes of household waste over the Christmas period.

One third of this is used packaging, the equivalent of 51kg per household.

Repak is targeting to collect and recycle between 35,000 tonnes or 50% of the used packaging from the holiday period.

Repak’s Darragh Crowe said it had experienced a significant increase in the number of people interested in recycling.

“As a nation, the Irish are very keen to recycle. Last year 50% of used packaging was recycled,” he said.

* For information on recycling in your area visit www.repak.ie

Disposal facilities

* Cork City:

Disposal is free of charge at: Civic Amenity Recycling Centre, Kinsale Road; Parks Depot, Togher; Ballinlough Park; Skehard Road; the green at the junction of Ringmahon Road and Castle Road; the Glen Amenity Park; and the green at the junction of Murmont Road and Iona Road, Montenotte.

* Co Cork:

Recycling centres are located in Mallow, Kanturk and Millstreet.

There are also council yards in Mitchelstown, Charleville, Newmarket and Fermoy.

Disposal facilities are also located in Castletownbere, Clonakilty, Derryconnell, Bandon, Macroom, Raffeen, Rossmore and Youghal.

* Recycling Points in Kerry:

North Kerry Landfill; Milltown Transfer Station; Coolcaslagh Transfer Station, Killarney; Caherciveen Transfer Station; Kenmare Transfer Station; Dingle Civic Amenity Site, Flemingstown and Lispole.

* For a full list of areas, visit www.repak.ie