A hard-hitting series of TV adverts showing people being engulfed by an avalanche of waste will be launched tonight in a bid to get people to recycle.
The adverts, which are part of the Government's 'Race Against Waste' campaign, were deemed unsuitable for broadcast before the 9 p.m. watershed on account of their graphic nature.
In one advert a sunny suburban street is overrun by a tidal wave of waste and rats as a voice-over warns "doing nothing is not an option".
Launching the campaign the Minister for Environment, Mr Martin Cullen, said: "The choice is clear - either we stop burying our waste or it will bury us".
Mr Cullen said: "Ambivalence in this area is a luxury we can no longer afford. It's time we all had a reality check and took the necessary action now".
"We have designed advertisements that will shock and will force people to confront the fact that we are running out of landfill while, at the same time, we are producing enough waste to cover all the towns in Ireland," he said.
He warned: "We have to change - doing nothing is not an option."
The Republic currently recycles only 13 per cent of its waste, well below the EU recommended level of 25 per cent.
This contrasts sharply with countries like Denmark and Sweden which now recycle over 45 per cent of their waste.
Mr Cullen said the Government was focused on ensuring that local authority waste plans are implemented.
"The blueprint of preventing waste, maximum recycling, minimum landfill and thermally treating waste that cannot be recycled, is the way forward as is well established here and across the EU," he said.
Mr Cullen said incineration as a means of disposing of waste was being used successfully all over the continent.
The Race Against Waste TV campaign will be accompanied by adverts on radio and in the print media as well as a website - www.raceagainstwaste.com- which aims to provide helpful information and tips on recycling.
