Households urged to recycle Easter packaging

The amount of used packaging generated by Irish households over the Easter period equates to 70% of the weight of the Titanic, according to Repak Ireland.

At the launch of their Easter recycling campaign today, Repak called on people to recycle some of the 32,000 tonnes of used packaging generated over the holiday period, 98% of which is non-Easter egg related packaging.

Last year Repak helped to recycle 18,300 tonnes of mixed packaging from households over the Easter period, the highest since its establishment in 2007.

This year Repak is again urging people to take the time to recycle their Easter packaging generated over the festive period setting a target to recycle between 15,000 and 16,000 tonnes, allowing for a decrease in consumption versus previous years.

"In 2011 Easter egg consumption increased by 3.4% and last year Irish people spent €24.2m on Easter eggs alone, Repak said.

"We would ask every Irish household to help us smash our annual target of recycling 11 kilos per capita or approximately 50% of all household packaging," said Repak CEO Dr Andrew Hetherington.

"We are delighted with the progress made by most manufacturers who have reduced their Easter egg packaging by over 25% over the last number of years while increasing their recyclability.

"We would remind people not only to recycle their Easter gift packaging but also all the other packaging that the festivities will generate such as wine bottles, beer bottles and cans."

Repak also revealed that Irish people will consume more than 9.5 million Easter eggs over the coming weekend, equivalent to 1,000 tonnes of chocolate or an average of 2.13 eggs per person.