Targeting ‘forgotten’ recycling areas

Donal Hickey says it’s time to look beyond the kitchen.

A FEW short years ago who could have foreseen a day when the average Irish home, accustomed for so long to putting all its waste into one bin or bag, would have up to three bins for different types of waste?

Undoubtedly, decent progress has been made in relation to recycling, but while recent research shows people are recycling materials from the kitchen and using their green bin, they are still slow about recycling materials from other rooms in the house.

The theme for this year’s Repak Recycling Week, from October 6 to 12, is Recycle More — Get Out of the Kitchen. The focus will be trying to build awareness of what can be recycled from each room.

Last year, 643,000 tonnes of used packaging were recovered, resulting in the equivalent of 250,000 tonnes of carbon savings or removing 56,000 cars from the road. This is an average of 152kg of packaging recycled per person.

This year the aim is to recycle about 750,000 tonnes of used packaging, a 17% increase on last year. Independent research shows that there are “forgotten” areas of potential recycling in the home.

Cans, plastic drink bottles, glass bottles, paper and cardboard from the kitchen are commonly recycled.

But the following are some of the less frequently recycled items: milk and juice cartons, food tins, large sweet and biscuit tins, detergent and tissue boxes, washing up liquid bottles and soap dispenser bottles, sauce and jam jars and window cleaner bottles.

Items in living rooms that can be recycled include beer cans, chocolate sweet boxes, magazines and newspapers, tissue boxes, wine bottles and cardboard from battery packs.

Many packaged items that are used in the bathroom can be accepted into the traditional plastic bottle and kerbside collection systems, including: shampoo and shower gel bottles, liquid soap dispensers, aerosol cans, shaving foam and deodorants, cleanser bottles, plastic bleach bottles and plastic and cardboard wrapping on items such as toothbrushes and razor blades.

Any plastic bottle marked with the symbol 1 or 2 in a triangle, usually on the bottom of the pack, can be accepted into the traditional plastic bottle collection systems.

In the bedroom, people are urged by Repak to keep two bins: one for general waste and one for recyclables.

If space is an issue, a recyclable bin on the landing could be used by all bedrooms.

This will be the eighth national recycling week and, as a means of generating additional public awareness of the week, there will be a groundbreaking art exhibition. The art being exhibited is by the British artist Robert Bradford, who makes lifesize sculptures out of recycled material.

Activities planned across the country include campaigns with the local authorities. Environmental awareness officers are being sent information packs for the week with posters featuring hints and tips that can be used in local schools and various projects which they can get children involved with.

The experience is that children are leading the way in recycling, with thousands of schools having recycling programmes working each day of the school year. Pupils and teachers take justified pride in winning green flag awards for their efforts and more schools are being added to the green list every year.

It is a fair bet that the average Irish child now knows more about recycling — and puts their knowledge into practice — than their parents.

Waste management continues to develop at a rapid pace and ongoing changes in policies will drive further change, even if the idea of using waste as a resource needs to be promoted all the time.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency’s waste report for 2006, municipal waste recycling increased by 18%, household waste by 14% and biodegradable waste by 26%.

“These results demonstrate that Ireland is increasingly adopting a recycling culture and that if households and businesses are provided with appropriate incentives and services, they will recycle,” says the report.

In 2006, an extra 49,000 tonnes of household waste were recycled, a rise of 14%.

However, the amount going to landfill also increased — by 180,000 tonnes, or 15%.

This was a reversal of downward trends in landfilling household waste and the recycling rate for household waste was unchanged at 22%.

All of this highlights the major challenge that must be tackled to achieve the national target of diverting 50% of household waste from landfill by 2013.

In summary, the EPA reports very good progress with recycling, but stresses significant problems remain in relation to waste disposal. The need to divert more waste away from landfills continues to be a key issue.