Say no to junk mail to cut waste, urges council

Householders are being urged to say ‘no’ to junk mail as work on regional waste management plans near completion.

Up to 30,000 ‘No Junk Mail’ stickers are being made available to homes across the country to raise awareness of a public consultation process on the drafting of three such waste plans, which should be finished next month.

The plans which will set out a framework for managing waste in each region over the next six years.

Key targets include a 1% reduction per annum in the quantity of household waste generated per capita over the next six years, a recycling or preparing for reuse rate of 50% by 2020, and the elimination of the direct disposal of unprocessed residual waste to landfill by 2016.

Mary Stack, the environmental awareness officer with Cork County Council, said junk mail is an annoyance and a huge generator of unnecessary waste.

“While junk mail can be recycled, most householders, when asked, say they would prefer not to get it in the first place,” she said.

In Cork, the stickers are available from the offices of the council’s environment section, with some Tidy Towns groups also planning to distribute them.

The initiative is being supported by the council as part of its ‘Do One More Thing’ campaign which aims to promote waste prevention.

Other initiatives will include the repairing of broken household items, improving the quality of recycling, and reducing household food waste through smarter shopping and improved storage.

southernwasteregion.ie