MORE THAN 626,000 tonnes of packaging was recycled in Ireland last year, including enough paper and cardboard to save almost five million trees, according to the Repak annual report.
The non-profit recycling organisation is calling on the Government not to introduce a packaging tax which it says will divert funds from recycling.
At just under 290,000 tonnes, cardboard and paper accounted for almost half of all recycled material, followed by glass (106,629 tonnes), wood (96,783 tonnes), plastic (89,130 tonnes) and steel (41,292 tonnes). Some 700 pieces of packaging were recycled or recovered every second in 2010, including enough plastic to save the equivalent of 200,000 litres of petrol and enough metal to make 118 Ferris wheels, Repak said.
Ireland ranks eighth out of 27 European countries for packaging recycling, and is exceeding the EU recycling/recovery target of 60 per cent, with an estimated 65 per cent of all packaging recycled in 2010. However, there was an overall drop of 2.8 per cent in the amount of packaging recycled, with the exception of used plastic which grew by 12 per cent, linked to an increase in the use of refuse-derived fuels. The biggest drop was in glass recycling, which fell by 9 per cent last year.
While the general fall in recovered packaging could be attributed to the economic situation, which saw less packaging being produced, the bad weather contributed greatly to the drop in glass recycling, with many people unable or unwilling to visit bottle banks last winter. The total volume of packaging brought to bottle banks fell by 17 per cent.
While Repak welcomed the increase in landfill levies, it urged the Government not to introduce a packaging tax. “The Repak scheme is actually a packaging tax, but because it’s in the form of a levy it is a ring-fenced environmental fund. There is no suggestion that a new packaging tax would be ring-fenced and it would be duplicating costs and could impact on Repak’s ability to operate,” head of marketing Darrell Crowe said.
