Ireland ranks seventh in packaging recycling rates

Ireland is proving it really is green at heart with households recycling almost ten per cent more last year compared to 2010.

Repak figures released yesterday show 208,000 tonnes of household waste was recovered while the total amount of packaging recycled was 652,000 tonnes — the equivalent of 3.37billion cereal boxes.

Ireland ranks seventh among the 27 EU member states in packaging recycling rates, according to Eurostat figures.

Recycling just one plastic bottle will save enough energy to power a 60-watt lightbulb for three hours.

In 2011 Irish recyclers filled commercial collections, household green bins, bring banks and recycling centres with the equivalent of 234million aluminium cans or 627million plastic bottles.

The recovery of used packaging in Ireland is the equivalent carbon saving of taking 250,000 cars off Irish roads for a year.

There was a significant drop in wood recycling this year.

According to the latest CSO figures, Ireland recovered 152kg of used packaging per head of population in 2009 — the third highest in the EU after Germany and Luxembourg.

In 1998, 15 per cent of packaging was recycled or recovered. In 2010, 74 per cent was recovered and 66 per cent recycled.

Ireland met and exceeded its 2001, 2005 and 2011 EU packaging Recovery and Recycling targets, meeting and exceeding the 2011 target in 2008.

Some 84 per cent of adults claim to recycle plastic bottles, glass containers, cardboard packaging, steel and aluminium cans.

Since it was established in 1997, Repak has diverted over 4.4million tonnes of used packaging from landfill in Ireland, that’s enough waste to create a trail of trucks from Dublin to New York.