Ireland – Ireland exceeded its recovery and recycling targets for packaging in 2011, despite having faced a ‘challenging year’, according to the country’s recycling authority, Repak.
The country beat its targets by recovering and recycling 652 000 tonnes of material, an increase of 4.1% over 2010, said Repak CEO Dr Andrew Hetherington. He added that of the total tonnage Repak funded, 89% was recycled and 11% was recovered.
Ireland currently ranks seventh among EU members in terms of its packaging performance, according to Eurostat. Dr Hetherington attributes this encouraging position to the ‘tremendous commitment’ of all parties involved, pointing out that Repak has reduced its overall costs by some 7.6%. The average cost per tonne of material recovered through the scheme has come down from ‘¬45 to ‘¬40.
However, Dr Hetherington fears that the current producer responsibility initiative could force up costs for Repak member companies and has expressed concern about the government’s possible introduction of a packaging tax and a proposed nationwide deposit and refund scheme for certain types of packaging waste.
For more information, visit: www.repak.ie
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