Calculating the Present, Counting Down to the Future

Repak launch first public online Carbon
Calculator

Householders all around the country can now calculate their exact carbon footprint through the first Irish publicly accessible online carbon calculator for households. The carbon calculator which is launched today by Repak in conjunction with the Minister for Environment can be accessed through the Repak website (http://www.repak.ie/) and allows a household to calculate how much carbon they use by inputting details of activities they perform in their daily routine. It also provides hints and tips on how people can reduce their carbon footprint.

The calculator allows users to input specific details about their homes and their lives. It assesses heating methods in the household, calculates energy consumption, and investigates the various types of insulation being used. It also allows the user to input information on the type of lighting they use in the house including energy efficient light bulbs. The calculator finally allows householders to investigate the impact that transportation usage has on their carbon footprint, from private and public transport to international flights. When a householder fills in all these details they are instantly provided with a monthly breakdown of carbon emissions, broken down into three separate sections, Home Energy Usage, Transport and Flights. They are also provided with a comparative average for their particular living situation and practical hints and tips on how each household can reduce their carbon footprint.

The household calculator is the first in a suite being developed by Repak. Early next year, Repak will also launch carbon calculators for schools and for businesses. The initial research for the project was carried out by Ms. Tricia Kenny, Director of Carbon Action Ireland. A Masters graduate of Environmental Science from Trinity College Dublin, Tricia carried developed the carbon footprint calculator for Ireland as part of her thesis.

Commenting on the launch of the carbon calculator, Andrew Hetherington, CEO of Repak said “This well researched tool helps people to actually realise the extent of their carbon footprint, and in particular compare this to the average Irish household. One of the best aspects of the calculator is that it gives each household suggestions and tips on practical ways in which they can reduce their carbon footprint and recycling is one way in which people can have a serious impact on carbon emissions and our overall environmental impact by lower our primary resource use.”

At the launch, Minister for Environment, Heritage and Local Government, John Gormley commented ”Repak’s carbon calculator is the latest example of the excellent work they do to promote recycling and the environment. Recycling creates lower energy costs, reduces emissions into the atmosphere and to water and reduces the amount of waste going to landfill sites. Each of us can further reduce our own carbon footprint by reducing the amount of packaging we consume and recycling as much as possible”.

At the launch of the Minister also announced the signing of Repaks new approval to 2011 and the launch of the amended Waste Management (Packaging) Regulations.

Mr Hetherington added “The new approval is an endorsement of Repaks success and the important role we have to play in meeting future EU targets. We can now plan for moving forward with certainty for next 4 years and also welcome the lowering of the threshold of obligation for companies to 10 tonnes (down from 25 tonnes of packaging placed on the market) that will widen the base of obligated companies meaning increased funding for Repak and recycling in Ireland. However our approval also poses challenges with the Minister seeking increased funding for packaging recycling for Local Authorities.”

Last year Repak managed to recycle 603,000 tonnes of packaging resulting in the equivalent of 463,000 tonnes of carbon savings. Since Repak was established in 1997 they have diverted over 3.5 million tonnes of used packaging from landfill resulting approximately 2.2 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent savings.

Pictured at the official launch are Mr. John Gormley TD, Minister for the Environment, Ms. Tricia Kenny, Director of Carbon Action Ireland and Dr. Andrew Hetherington, CEO, Repak

Repak Green Christmas 2007 Official Launch

Don’t Let Packaging Snowball Out of Control this

Christmas

· 4 bottles of wine, 9 beer cans, 7 plastic drinks bottles
and nearly 1 roll of wrapping paper used EVERY SECOND by

consumers over Christmas period
· 82,000 tonnes of additional packaging will be generated over

Christmas period
· 23,000 tonnes of paper and cardboard the weight of 511

articulated trucks
· 44 million litres of alcohol, enough to fill Lough Neagh 12

times over
· Each household will generate circa 55 kilos of packaging waste · Repak set target to recycle 45% of the used packaging

With the Festive season in full swing, presents being bought and wrapped, everyone drinking and eating their fill, the packaging mountain is already beginning to build up. Repak would like to remind all consumers to prevent packaging from snowballing out of control this Christmas and be sure to use their local recycling facilities to recycle as much of their used packaging as possible. Irish Consumers go through an estimated; 4 bottles of wine, 9.6 beer cans, 5 soft drinks cans, 7.8 plastic drinks bottles and nearly 1 roll of wrapping paper PER SECOND over the festive period. In total over Green Christmas Irish consumers will use enough glass wine and beer bottles to create a chain 9,500 km in length, a chain long enough to stretch from Dublin to Tokyo. We will use 23,000 tonnes of cardboard and paper the same average weight as 511 fully loaded articulated trucks and we will drink enough alcohol to fill the great Lough Neagh 12 times over. In response to this festive indulging Repak is calling on all householders to maximise the use of their green bins and jingle all the way down to the recycling centres and bottle banks as they look towards an even Greener Repak Green Christmas in 2007.

This year Repak Green Christmas runs from the 23rd of December 2007 to the 4th of January 2008 so make sure your house is ready for the 12 Recycling days of Green Christmas. According to research undertaken by Repak, each household will generate circa 54 kilos or 80,000 tonnes of used packaging in total, over the Christmas period. There is a 30 per cent increase in the overall amount of used packaging at this time of year. It is estimated there are 164 million drink containers – including alcoholic and non-alcoholic cans and bottles going to be consumed this year due to the numerous Christmas parties and nights out over the festive season. Repak is aiming to collect and recycle 45% of this used packaging, generated over the holiday period. This is equivalent to 24 kilos per household or 35,000 tonnes in total of used packaging. Last year Repak supported the recycling of nearly 32,000 tonnes of used packaging, which was 10% up on the previous year. Repak Green Christmas is encouraging householders to think green and remember to recycle all the extra waste produced by these Christmas festivities.

Commenting on the extra effort required over the Christmas period, Andrew Hetherington, CEO of Repak said “What we have seen previously is that, with some encouragement, consumers react enthusiastically to the recycling call for a Repak Green Christmas. We are asking householders this year to examine their bin and to recycle items they have never recycled before, such as mince pie trays or used Christmas crackers, selection and chocolate boxes and biscuit tins. Consumers are the front line of recycling and their enthusiasm and participation is crucial in helping to reduce our Christmas waste mountain.”

Repak Green Christmas is supported in part by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government under the Race Against Waste campaign. Minister Minister John Gormley,T.D., thanked householders for their recycling efforts over the past year. “Recycling performance has gone through the roof in recent years and people in Ireland can be rightly proud of the part they are playing in helping the environment by using their green bins or bringing packaging waste to recycling centres”, the Minister remarked, “But I would ask everyone to make a New Year’s Resolution to use less packaging in 2008. I have recently asked supermarkets and other retailers to look at the amount of packaging on their products but we need to be aware that the choices we make as consumers can be an important element in preventing waste”.

The Repak Green Christmas campaign is in its seventh year and Repak now work with all local authorities around the country involving over 90 recycling centres nationwide. During December and January Repak will run a nationwide TV, national and local print, Outdoor shopper lights and radio advertising campaigns to support the call to recycle and also to encourage people to visit their recycling centres. They have also added Green Christmas information to their BEBO page and Blog where people can read more on various hints and tips around recycling at this time of the year. Most recycling centres have in many cases specific opening hours due to the holiday period and will accept a wider range of materials than the normal bring banks. In addition to this, the existing network of nearly 2,200 Bring Banks and kerbside collection systems reaching in excess of 950,000 households will help to facilitate the recycling of much of the Christmas packaging. Full details of Green Christmas recycling centres, their opening hours, local contractor collection information and Christmas tree recycling drop off points is available at http://www.repak.ie/.

Colouring Pencils at the ready.........

Here is some good old fashioned festive fun the for little'uns, (and of course the child in all of us !!).

Click on the picture above and print off this fun picture of our Repak Recycling Elves.

Repak Green Christmas TV ad

Yesterday we recorded our TV advert for Repak Green Christmas 2007. Now I know our TV advert is just like our Repak Recycling Week advert, but remember, to reuse is just as important as to recycle.

So happy viewing and don't tell the boss I gave you all a sneak preview.

Alma x

Repak Green Christmas 2007 - Get Ready

The 12 Days of Greener Christmas

Day 1 Choose the right Christmas tree
Remember to buy real Christmas trees as they each remove 100,000 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide during their 9 years before maturing. For every tree chopped down another is planted. Noble Fir and Lodgepole Pine are said to be environmentally friendly as they will not shed their needles. Also treat a cut tree, like a cut flower – don’t over expose it to light and heat and top up with water daily.

Day 2 Organise Household Bins
Put three bins in the kitchen: one for recyclables; one for compostable vegetable waste; one for general waste. Organise a dedicated storage space in your backgarden or kitchen. Most hardware stores like Woodies or B&Q sell a range of special recycling bins and, if you have space, it’s worth investing and installing these into this dedicated area.

Day 3 Composting
Put a small compost bin beside your general waste bin or if you’ve space build a compost pile in your garden for kitchen vegetable waste and garden waste. As well as your brown and green food waste, wormeries can break down cooked meats that other conventional garden composters cannot deal with. After a few months the compost should become dark and crumbly and you can then start using it as top-soil or fertilizer to make your garden greener than ever.

Day 4 Packaging Thrift
Check for products with less packaging and use re-usable plates, cups and bags. Buy vegetables loose. Put leftover turkey and ham into reusable lunch boxes or containers with lids instead of using non-recyclable aluminium foil or plastic film.

Day 5 Find your nearest Repak Green Christmas Centre or Bring Bank.
You may be surprised at the wide variety of materials they can accept and most have extended opening hours over Christmas. Visit www.repak.ie or check yourlocal paper or for further details.

Day 6 Christmas wrapping.
Gather all the wrapping paper, cardboard boxes from presents into large bags for recycling or reuse. Also consider re-using brown paper and bits of fabric and ribbon to wrap presents and make them more individual and personal.

Day 7 Morning After The Party
Gather up all glass bottles and aluminium cans in separate bags or bins. Remember plastic bottles (PET and HDPE bottles) can also be recycled at most Recycling Centres – look for 3 chasing arrows with either a number 1 or number 2 inside – this means it can be recycled in Ireland. If you’re looking for tips on how to improve your party, there’s a good chance you’ll meet a like minded reveler at the Bring Bank!

Day 8 Be Clean
Wash ‘n’ squash Tetra Pak containers. Rinse out bottle and cans, remove lids and squash plastic containers to save space. Remember don’t litter at bring banks. Take home any boxes or containers you used to bring materials to your local bring bank in.

Day 9 Card Recycling
Collect all Christmas cards together, which can also be recycled. Almost 4 million Christmas cards were recycled last year. Consider sending e-cards too to save on paper usage.

Day 10 Recycle used batteries
Collect up all the used batteries. Consider giving a battery re-charger and rechargeable batteries for battery operated toys and gadgets. Look up www.repak.ie to find your nearest recycling centre that accept batteries.

Day 11 New Gadgets for Christmas?
There are estimated to be over a million mobile phones dormant in Ireland and instead of leaving it dormant, bring it your Green Christmas Recycling Centre as most of them accept old mobile phones. You could also try selling your unwanted gadget on www.ebay.ie or donating to charities looking for the products.

Day 12 Christmas Trees Recycling
Take down decorations and tree. Remember you can recycle it at your local Christmas tree recycling centre. Visit www.repak.ie for more details.

Repak Green Christmas 2007 - Poised for launch

This Christmas Irish consumers all around the country will munch their way through an estimated 8.5 million mince pies, 1.4 million tins of biscuits and nearly 1 million selection boxes and will pull over 16 million Christmas crackers as they get into the festive spirit. Apart from expanding waistlines, this annual consumption fest leads to a New Year waste packaging mountain. In response Repak is calling on all retailers to encourage their customers to jingle all the way down to the recycling centres and bottle banks as they look towards an even Greener Repak Green Christmas in 2007.

Last year Repak recycled nearly 32,000 tonnes of used packaging, which was 10% up on the previous year. Repak Green Christmas is encouraging retailers to lead by example by putting recycling in front of their customers, get them to think green and remember to recycle all the extra waste produced by these Christmas festivities.

Commenting on the extra effort required over the Christmas period, Andrew Hetherington, CEO of Repak said “This time of the year is the perfect opportunity for retailers to get out there and show their Green credentials. We are asking retailers to lead the way in recycling this Christmas, by encouraging staff and customers internally to take on new recycling challenges over Christmas, to recycle items they have never recycled before, such as mince pie trays or used Christmas crackers.

This year Repak Green Christmas takes place between the 23rd December 2007 to 6th January 2008.

Full details of Green Christmas recycling centres, their opening hours and Christmas tree recycling drop off points will be available at http://www.repak.ie/.

Repak Green Christmas 2007

It is truley hard to comprehend how Christmas is upon us again, (although if retailers had their way Christmas would start in July !). Repak Green Christmas 2007 is poised for launch on December 23rd 2007 .

If you need any reminding of what exactly goes on, log on to our 2006 Repak Green Christmas blog page to find out more.

Details for 2007 will follow shortly.....................................

RRW 2007 Days 6-7 - WEEE

WEEE Ireland


WEEE Ireland, the national compliance scheme for electrical recycling, is a not for profit organisation, founded by producers of electrical and electronic appliances in order to comply with the legal obligations imposed by the WEEE Directive 2002/96/EC. WEEE Ireland organises the treatment and recycling of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) from authorised collection points in Ireland, on behalf of its members.

WEEE Ireland works with permitted waste management companies and licensed treatment facilities to ensure WEEE is managed in an environmentally sound way and over 75% of the waste electrical and electronic equipment collected is initially processed here in Ireland. On behalf of its industry members WEEE Ireland has helped ensure over 7kg of household WEEE per person in Ireland was collected for recycling in 2006 – well ahead of the EU target for Ireland of 4kg per head of population by 2008. Ireland is well on track to collect 9kg of WEEE per head of population by the end of 2007.


For the finale of Repak Recycling Week 2007, we have teamed up with WEEE Ireland who are holding public service collection days at a number of venues around Ireland. These venues are in Dublin, Carlow and Westmeath.

For details on where you can bring your WEEE goods you can click here for more details.

RRW 2007 Day 5 - Repak Recycling Awards

Repak recycling awards promote and encourage excellence in packaging prevention and recycling

Re-useable packaging, compostable, flexible food packaging, zero waste to landfill, fixed packaging reduction targets and geo thermal heating systems are just some of the initiatives that have been commended in this year’s 6th Annual Repak Awards. This year was the first year that Repak awarded an Excellence award which was won by Tesco through “The Tesco Strategy” where they aim to be the first Irish retailer to reach 100% recycling of packaging and store waste by 2010 and to reduce strategy to reduce their own label packaging by 25% by 2010.

Other winners included Alcan Packaging Dublin Ltd for the Repak Best Practice Award and H.J. Heinz Co. who received the accolade for the Best Prevention Initiative Award. The awards took place in the Four Seasons Hotel in Dublin on Thursday night, the 4th October and were presented by Nationwide presenter Mary Kennedy.

Tesco Ireland were awarded Repak's newest honour, The Repak Excellence Award by virtue of their strong leadership in the protection of the environment through its strategy to minimise its carbon footprint and address crucial environmental concerns through recycling, packaging reduction and sustainable energy use. The Tesco environmental strategy, launched in 2007, sets a target of being the first Irish retailer to reach 100% recycling of packaging and store waste by 2010. The move will see more than 24,000 tonnes of waste recycled each year. The strategy also seeks to increase the recycability of their packaging which includes ideas like compostable packaging that would be available on a number of organic fresh products. Secondary cardboard and plastic packaging will be replaced by re-usable green crates. Tesco already have 250,000 re usable plastic crates in circulation each week preventing nearly 20 million cardboard boxes per annum. Packaging on own label brand products will be reduced by 25% by the target date of 2010. This initiative sets a benchmark for other retail chains and outlets and sends valuable messages to its consumers.

H.J. Heinz was presented with Best Prevention Initiative Award thanks to the launch of three Packaging Prevention Initiatives. Weights of plastic trays were reduced, corrugate cases were replaced with shrink-wrap and plastic drums were replaced with returnable containers. These initiatives resulted in savings of 67 tonnes of plastic and 42 tonnes of cardboard. By reducing this much waste the company is not only helping the environment but also making massive cost reductions.

Alcan Packaging Dublin, specialists in the printing of food flexible packaging took the Repak Best Practice Award. Alcan, through a continuous and measured process have examined all aspects of their production to ensure that no more packaging than necessary is used and that all packaging that can be recovered is segregated and sent for recycling. However, it is the development of a compostable flexible plastic food packaging for the breakfast cereal market that marked Alcan Packaging Dublin as leaders in best practice in packaging waste management.

Louth County Council was honoured as Repak Local Authority of the Year and Cork County Council was awarded Local initiative of the year for their Bandon Civic Amenity Site. O’ Reilly’s Centra Foodmarket, Bunclody, Co. Wexford managed to recycle 77% of its waste in 2006 reducing its waste management bill by 42% which made them worthy winners of the Best practice award in the independent retail sector.

The best practice accolade in the hospitality sector was presented to Fitzgerald’s Woodland House Hotel in Adare, Co. Limerick while Lakeland Dairies won Repak Member of the Year by reducing its landfill from 717 tonnes to 28 tonnes, a massive 97% reduction.

The small recovery operator of the year award went to Clean Ireland refuse and Recycling in County Clare while the large recovery operator of the year honour was handed to Panda Waste Services who are better know for their recent entry into the domestic Dublin waste market. Repak continued to acknowledge recycling among the youth by naming Aglish NS in Cappoquin, Co. Waterford Recycling School of the year. St. Catherine’s College Armagh won young recyclers of the year (junior section) for their project: “Green Christmas and Recycle Light.” The senior young recyclers of the year section was one by Scoil Mhuire, Athy, Co. Kildare for their project highlighting waste management entitled: “Help stop excess waste and make people aware of recycling facilities in our area.”

The 2007 results were:

1. Repak Member of the year Award - Sponsored by Arthur Cox
Winner: Lakeland Dairies

2. Repak Best Packaging Waste Prevention Initiative - Sponsored by the EPA
Winner: H.J. Heinz Co.

3. Repak Best Practice Award Large Company - Sponsored by the EPA

Winner: Alcan Packaging Dublin Ltd

4. Repak Best Practice Award Independent Retail Sector
Winner: O’Reillys Centra Foodmarket, Bunclody, Co. Wexford

5. Repak Best Practice Award Hospitality -Sponsored by REHAB
Winner: Fitzgerald’s Woodlands House Hotel – Adare, Co. Limerick

6. Repak Local Authority of the Year -Sponsored by REHAB

Winner: Louth County Council

7. Repak Local Authority Initiative of the Year -Sponsored by RPS
Winner: Cork County – Bandon Civic Amenity site.

8. Repak Recovery Operator of the Year Large Company - Sponsored by Bank of Ireland
Winner: Panda Waste Services, Dublin

9. Repak Recovery Operator of the Year Small/Medium Company - Sponsored by Tetra Pak
Winner: Clean Ireland Refuse and Recycling, Kilrush, Co. Clare

10. Repak, in Association with An Taisce, Recycling School of the Year
Winner: Aglish NS, Cappoquin, Co. Waterford

11. Repak Excellence Award
Winner: Tesco Ireland


12. Repak, in association with Eco Unesco, Young Recyclers of the year- junior
Winner: St. Catherine’s College, Armagh

13. Repak, in association with Eco Unesco, Young Recyclers of the year- Senior
Winner: Scoil Mhuire, Athy, Co. Kildare.

RRW 2007 Day 4 - Paper & Cardboard

In 2006 Repak members funded the recovery and recycling of 276,507 tonnes of cardboard and paper, which is up 12% over the same period in 2005, reflecting 83% of all paper and board packaging forecast to be on the market and accounting for 46% of the total weight of materials funded by the Repak Payment Scheme for Recycling.

These results show that Irish recyclers are winning the battle in the recycling of paper and cardboard, however there is still much to do if Ireland are to be confident of hitting their 2011 recycling target of 60%.

Repak members are also playing their part in reducing the quantities of paper and cardboard that they are placing on the Irish market. Below are some best example case studies of how Repak and its members are driving packaging prevention and minisation.

1. Diageo Baileys

Diageo Baileys prevents almost 53 tonnes of cardboard (over 900 trees) and 378 tonnes of glass (1.2 million glass bottles) every year thanks to the innovative industrial design of its new bottle introduced in 2004.

2. eircom

With broadband sales increasing significantly, eircom investigated ways to reduce the packaging of its broadband product without reducing its effectiveness but all to meet the increasing demands for the product. It prevent a staggering 15 tonnes of cardboard reaching the market (over 250 trees) by reducing the amount of cardboard required by 15%. It used one material instead of two and also reduced the amount of ink used.

3. Tetra Pak

Tetra Pak developed a new stronger but lighter inner plastic coating for its beverage cartons resulting in the weight of all its product reducing by 3% and also saving 4% on the Gross Energy Requirement of producing it.

4. Britvic Ireland (formerly C&C )

a) By redesigning the way it transports 9 x 2 Litre packs of 7Up, Britvic removed cardboard required by 100% and the amount of plastic shrink wrap required by almost 31%. This means, every year, 290 tonnes (or almost 5,000 trees) of cardboard is prevented from reaching the market and 68 tonnes of shrink wrap.
b) By changing the Ritz PVC sleeve to a PET sleeve, C&C introduced a more recyclable product (PET) and reduced the polymer usage by 6.4%.

5. Musgrave Ireland

In their chilled food market, it was discovered that by substituting their cardboard sleeves with labels, they would save 17g of packaging per unit. Their total ready meal sales alone amount to 1,000,000 units, translating into a wasted saving of 15 tonnes per annum and €57,500 per annum.

RRW 2007 Day 3 - Plastic

Plastic Recycling Rates

There is approximately 220,000 tonnes of plastic packaging making up 25% of all packaging. Plastic bottles only account for 20% of total plastic packaging. However it is very visible and very valuable

Plastic bottles recycling rates increase 5 fold over last five years
Now increasingly valuable raw material
1 tonnes of plastic bottles recycled saves c30 barrels of crude oil
Plastic bottles recycling rates at 34% up from under under 3% in 2002
Good growth up from 1100 tonnes in 2002 to nearly 15,000 in 2007 – increased 15 fold
Plastic bottles are ideally collected through kerbside green bin/bag systems – 64% recovered through kerbsides
Plastic bottles collection infrastructure increasing –nearly a million kerbside now collect plastic bottles
xxx Dublin green bins now taking plastic bottles. – the last kerbside to accept plastic bottles
Plastic Bottles are not just fizzy drink bottles – also are Milk bottles, Shampoo and toiletries bottles, detergents bottles, etc
Plans for two plastic bottle washing and chipping plants are in the pipe line for plastic bottles.


Plastic not a bad material a lot of on Island opportunities in plastic recycling in Ireland.
More Plastic Bottles are being recycled in Ireland than ever

Repak Plastic Bottle Recovery rates

Repak have grown plastic bottle recycling up from 1,096 tonnes in 2002 to over 15,000 tonnes by year end in 2007 or nearly 40% of all plastic bottles. These are not just beverage bottles but all plastic bottles.

Plastic Beverage bottles are less than 10% of all plastic packaging and represent only circa 15-20,000 tonnes which is less than 2.2% of all packaging waste.

People are very good at recycling their Fizzy drink plastic bottles and milk bottles, however there are other plastic bottles like Shampoo/Detergent bottles etc


Commentary “Plastic bottle recycling rates are low relative to other material types (like glass and cardboard at over 70%) but plastic bottles recycling rates are growing rapidly up 15 fold in 5 years. Plastic is a relatively new packaging material type and recycling rates are as such slower to catch up. Plastic bottle recycling in Ireland has a great future as unlike other materials which need plants of many hundreds of thousand to be viable plastic recycling plants can be viable and profitable at much smaller scales of 10 -20,000 tonnes. Indeed we already have a number of end plastic users who would be ideal outlets for collected plastic bottles. Such as Wellman in Cavan, JFC in Tuam, Carberry etc.”

RRW 2007 Day 2 - Glass

Ireland’s Glass Recycling Record Smashed

- Bottle and Jar Deposits Enough to Fill the Croke Park Pitch 58 Feet High

A record 65,000 tonnes of glass from Irish households has been recycled by Rehab Recycle in the last year – that’s enough bottles and jars to fill the pitch at Ireland’s largest sporting stadium, Croke Park, to a height of 58 feet, or if the bottles were placed end to end, to circle the entire globe over one and a half times.

A new survey by Rehab Recycle reveals that 211 million individual glass containers – enough glass bottles to stretch approximately 64,000 kilometres were collected in Rehab Recycle bottle banks around the country in the last 12 months.

In the past three years, glass deposits at Rehab Recycle bring sites have increased by a staggering 30 per cent.

Compiled as part of Repak’s Recycling Week, the study also shows that the people of Cork are once again the country’s best recyclers with deposits of some 61 bottles and jars for every man woman and child in the county during the first eight months of the year. Galway and Leitrim were the next best counties with an average of 57 and 53 items of glass recycled per person respectively.

The largest increase in glass recycling came in County Mayo, up by 30 per cent to 1,473 tonnes of glass, followed by Kilkenny where figures rose by 26 per compared to the same period last year. The bring bank at Superquinn Shopping Centre in Lucan, Dublin claimed the honour of being Ireland’s busiest bring site with deposits of nearly one million (969,000) bottles and jars recorded during the period from January to August 2007.

“In the past six years, deposits at Rehab Recycle’s bring centres nationwide have more than doubled from 30,000 tonnes of waste glass to 65,000 tonnes last year. These returns represent an extraordinary effort by Irish people to recycle,” said Rehab Recycle general manager, Bob Rowat.

Speaking at the launch of Repak Recycling Week, Mr. Andrew Hetherington, CEO, Repak, said: “Whilst Ireland now has a very impressive recycling rate for glass at nearly 80 per cent, there are many other materials that households need to concentrate on and we hope to highlight these materials by dedicating each day of recycling week to one specific packaging material. In particular, we need to focus on the smaller more valuable packaging types like plastic and aluminum where recycling rates are lower at 24 per cent and 30 per cent respectively.”

Rehab Recycle
Rehab Recycle’s combined glass, can, paper and waste electrical recycling facilities account for in excess of 90,000 tonnes of material each year, including some 211 million bottles and jars. The company, which has over 1,800 bring centres nationwide, is part of a unique integrated employment model and has a workforce of 162 people, 104 of whom are people with disabilities. Visit http://www.gandonenterprises.ie/ for more information.

RRW 2007 Day 1 - Aluminium

Convenience foods and takeaway culture impacting on aluminium recycling rates
· aluminium trays and foils dumped worth estimated 3 million euro per

annum
· estimated 90 million Aluminium trays dumped each year
· Repak target takeaways in attempt to improve recycling rates of

aluminium trays
· Counter reminders send to takeaways throughout the country
· Improving recycling rates of aluminium foils and trays would boast our

overall aluminium recycling rates
· Recycling aluminium saves 95% energy versus primary raw materials
· Aluminium can recycling hits circa 50% but Aluminium foils and trays

recycling rates are lower
"In Ireland the can recycling rate has steadily increased to an all time high of circa 50%, an impressive improvement n last year. In order to improve these recycling results we will continue to work hard on increasing aluminium beverage can but also other aluminium packaging types. Based on our experiences in toher EU countries particularly Switzerland and Great Britain we know aluminium food trays and foils are collected separately for recycling. recycling. As these aluminium containers are also increasingly being used in Ireland to packa convenience food products collection and recycling of these items will increase our overall aluminium recycling rates.” according to Maarten Labberton of European Aluminium Association.

In excess of 90 million aluminium trays are consumed daily in Ireland from takeaways, prepacked meals and confectionary. However, while the can recycling rate is circa 50%, the overall aluminium recycling rate stands at around 30%, this is due to the fact that flexible foils are increasing in use but currently we are not recycling trays and foils as much as we could, despite aluminium being one of the most valuable and most recyclable materials.
In light of this Repak and the EAA have launched a call for takeaway devotees to wash out their takeaway trays and place them in the recycling bin or aluminium Bring Banks. Also they are calling on people to recycle their other aluminium food trays, which are used for tarts, pies etc. In an effort to highlight the need to recycle trays, Repak has distributed counter top recycling reminders to all Chinese, Indian and other takeaways restaurants throughout the country.
“Aluminium cans and foils can be recycled endlessly and new drinks cans could be back on the shelf as quickly as 60 days after they have been collected for recycling. Recycling cans results in a 95% energy saving and it is saves extremely valuable natural resources. Because one tonne of recycled aluminium replaces the production of one tonne of primary metal, thus reducing the carbon footprint substantially.”

“Simply washing out and placing your used food trays into the recycling bin or can bank will reduce landfill, use less natural resources and save on waste bills. We are also calling for people to remember other aluminium materials that can be recycled such as tomato puree tubes and aluminium foil and not forgetting the millions of aluminium cans we consume each year.” added Mr. Labberton

Commenting Andrew Hetherington, CEO Repak said “Ireland compares well internationally on our recycling rates for Aluminium cans but not for other aluminium packaging. This year during Repak Recycling Week we are focusing on one material a day to highlight the extra packaging types that people can recycle. Last year we recorded an exceptional packaging recycling rate of approximately 64% but the only way to increase this rate further is to target the items that people have not readily being recycling such as aluminium trays and foils. Frequently people are simply unaware of the wide range of items they could be recycling but we also ask that people see the environmental good that can be achieved by making the extra effort".

Repak takes over the streets of Dublin

One Material per Day Keeps the Bin Man away

Repak Recycling Week 2007 is luanched

-Repak Recycling Week targets ‘one material per day’ for householders
-Repak Recycling Week launches ‘Bling My Bring Bank campaign
-Recycling goes cyber with Repak bebo page, Youtube videos, blogs and podcasts
-Recycling Week Activity Packs sent to all 3,000 national schools
-Free WEEE open day on Saturday with additional centres around the country

The landscape of Dublin City will be dramatically transformed this October during Repak Recycling Week. Getting the week off to a creative start is the innovative Repak ‘Bling my Bring Bank’ campaign. Thanks to the creative control of the students of Killester College of Further Education, five glammed up and decked out Bring banks will be on display on the streets of Dublin City, in locations such as; Grafton St, O’ Connell St, Henry St, Temple Bar, all in a bid to bring recycling right to the fore front consumers and shoppers minds. Repak Recycling Week takes place from the 1st to the 7th of October and the bring banks will on display right throughout the week.

Also each day of the week will target a different recyclable material, Monday is Aluminium, Tuesday is Glass, Wednesday is Plastic, Thursday is paper and cardboard and Friday is WEEE.

During the week recycling will be taken into cyberspace as Repak launch its very own Bebo profile page. The page will have hints and tips on recycling, before and after photos and videos of the Bling my bring bank project. You can also log on to the Repak Website for drawing competitions, the chance for you to design your own Bring Bank and recycling themed computer games.

Repak will also be posting videos on Youtube, where you will see the making of one of the fabulous 'Bling Banks'

Our new TV advert will be aired from September 25th and is based on the Bob Dylan sony 'Subterranean Homesick Blues. You can view it here

Repak is also encouraging recycling through activities with schools, libraries and take aways all around the country. Repak is targeting 3,491 national schools to get on board with their tailored recycling week activity packs. The packs contain a series of activities to be carried out during the week and can be downloaded directly at Repak Schools web page.

Posters have been distributed to over 100 libraries around the country. And in a joint campaign with the European Aluminium Association, Repak are engaging with take away restaurants around the country to promote the recycling of aluminium food trays. Ireland has been very successful with the recycling of Aluminium cans in recent years however our overall recycling rate for aluminium is still only at 50% and the reason for this lower rate is mainly due to households not recycling these aluminium food trays. Repak is calling on all take aways to promote the recycling of food trays and have provided poster boards for many take aways to heighten consumer awareness.

Countdown for Repak Recycling Week 2007

Get set for RRW 2007 with our Recycling hints & Tips

Organise Household Bins.
Put three bins in the kitchen: one for recyclables; one for compostable vegetable waste; one for general waste. Organise a dedicated storage space in your backgarden or kitchen. Most hardware stores like Woodies or B&Q sell a range of special recycling bins and, if you have space, it’s worth investing and installing these into this dedicated area.

Composting.
Put a small compost bin beside your general waste bin or if you’ve space build a compost pile in your garden for kitchen vegetable waste and garden waste. As well as your brown and green food waste, wormeries can break down cooked meats that other conventional garden composters cannot deal with. After a few months the compost should become dark and crumbly and you can then start using it as top-soil or fertilizer to make your garden greener than ever.

Packaging Thrift.
Check for products with less packaging and use re-usable plates, cups and bags. Buy vegetables loose. Put leftover turkey and ham into reusable lunch boxes or containers with lids instead of using non-recyclable aluminium foil or plastic film. A lot of companies have made great strides in reducing the amount of packaging they use in product. For example, did you know the steel in baked bean cans now weigh today only 53% of what it did on the 1970’s dinner table (210g versus 113g for the same amount of beans).

Find your nearest Recycling Centre or Bring Bank.
You may be surprised at the wide variety of materials they can accept and most have extended opening hours over Christmas. Visit http://www.repak.ie/ or check yourlocal paper or for further details.

Be Clean.
Wash ‘n’ squash Tetra Pak containers. Rinse out bottle and cans, remove lids and squash plastic containers to save space. Remember don’t litter at bring banks. Take home any boxes or containers you used to bring materials to your local bring bank in.

Morning After Parties.
Gather up all glass bottles and aluminium cans in separate bags or bins. Remember plastic bottles (PET and HDPE bottles) can also be recycled at most Recycling Centres – look for 3 chasing arrows with either a number 1 or number 2 inside – this means it can be recycled in Ireland.

Recycle used batteries.
Collect up all the used batteries. Consider purchasing a battery re-charger and rechargeable batteries for battery operated toys and gadgets. Look up http://www.repak.ie/ to find your nearest recycling centre that accept batteries.

Use Re-usable Bags.

Make sure to use reusable bags when visiting your Recycling Centre or Bring Bank, especially if you’re wash ‘n’ squash your used packaging container. Often people use cardboard boxes, which can get soggy and unusable. Without realising, unfortunately, some people leave these beside Bring Bank and at Recycling Centres – this is litering and makes everyone’s job harder.

Packaging Recycling – an example of a few items to help us reach our RRW recycling target of 16,600 tonnes

Glass From the Kitchen
Baby Food Jars
Wine Bottles
Jam Jars
Sauce jars (Glass)

Cardboard
Cereal boxes
Tissue Boxes
Kitchen paper cores
Milk cartons
Juice Cartons
Multipack sleeves
Ready meals cardboard sleeves
Washing up powder boxes

Plastic
Plastic drink bottles
Washing up liquid bottles
Fabric softener bottles
Sauce bottles
Water bottles
Plastic Milk Bottles
Note: Please ensure all food containers are fully rinsed
Thus reducing attraction of flies

From the Livingroom
Newspapers
Magazines
Tissue boxes
Beer bottles or Cans

From the Bathroom
Shampoo/Conditioner bottles
Talc bottle
Shower gel bottles
Toilet roll cores
Tissue box
Toiletry outer sleeves and boxes, eg. Razors and soap
Hand soap bottles
Note: Please ensure all toiletry containers are fully rinsed
Ensuring limited product waste and maximum recyclability

Bedroom
Books
Magazines
Tissue box
Wall posters
Perfume boxes/packaging
Clothes packaging, socks, underwear, etc.
Clothes shopping bags (paper based)

From the Utility Room
Washing detergent boxes
Fabric conditioner bottles
Pet food cans
Note: Please ensure all utility containers are fully rinsedEnsuring limited product waste and maximum recyclability

Tidy Towns Results 2007

Aughrim, Co.Wicklow was awarded the title of Ireland’s Tidiest Town 2007. Aughrim came close last year when they won the Tidiest Small Town category and were just one point behind the overall winner, Westport.
The County Wicklow town was chosen from over 800 other competitors in this year’s National Tidy Towns Competition. Other winners included Birdhill, Co. Tipperary - Ireland’s Tidiest Village for the second time in a row, Killarney, Co. Kerry which received the Ireland’s Tidiest Large Town award and Letterkenny Co. Donegal was named Ireland's Tidiest Large Urban Centre. Aughrim also received the award of Ireland’s Tidiest Small Town.
The winner of the Tidy Towns Schools Award, which was launched last year, was St. Mary’s National School, Enfield, Co. Meath.
On hand to present the prizes in St. Patrick’s Hall in Dublin Castle was Mr. John Gormley, T.D., Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and Mr. Donal Horgan, Managing Director of SuperValu, the competition’s national sponsor. Representatives of hundreds of Tidy Towns Committees from around Ireland travelled to Dublin to see Minister Gormley present the overall prize - a perpetual trophy and a cheque for €15,000 - to the Aughrim Tidy Towns Committee. Click here for more on this years Tidy Towns Results.

As the national Tidy Towns competition moves towards it’s 50th anniversary in 2008, Repak is delighted to continue its positive sponsorship arrangement with the DoEHLG and Ireland’s premier local community initiative, dedicated to ‘caring for the environment’.

In addition to the sponsorship of the 7 Regional Awards, Repak has again committed to the sponsorship of the new award for the ‘best presented and maintained bring bank site in each region’. This attracts a prize of €1,000 for the winner in each region and takes account both of presentation and utilisation by the local community in its evaluation. Certainly this award has complimented the existing Repak grant scheme which offers assistance to any local authority which is anxious to establish new bring bank sites in its area.
Repak wish to congratulate each award winner whose achievements were also announced at yesterday's official ceremony in Dublin.

For more log on to The Repak Website

Best Presented Bring Bank

Dublin: Skerries, Co Dublin
Midlands East: Cullyfad, Co Longford
South East: Emly, Co Tipperary
Northwest: Keash, Co Sligo
South East: Piltown, Co Kilkenny
South West: Portmagee, Co Kerry
West: Partry, Co Mayo
Overall Winner for Best Presented Bring Bank: Partry, Co. Mayo

Results for the Regional Awards:

Dublin: Skerries, Co. Dublin
Midlands East: Aughrim, Co. Wicklow
Mid West: Birdhill, Co Tipperary
Northwest: Letterkenny, Co Donegal
South East: Lismore, Co Waterford
South West: Killarney, Co Kerry
West: Westport Co Mayo

Repak Recycling Week 2007 Details Launched

This year’s theme for Repak Recycling week is “Keep Recycling – let’s get it sorted” and features a series of nationwide educational and promotional campaigns. The campaign will have a special twist this year with a dedicated day given to each material recycled here in Ireland to heighten the consumer’s awareness of the various methods of recycling and the various materials that can be recycled.

Monday will focus on paper and cardboard, Tuesday on glass, Wednesday on plastics, Thursday on aluminium and Friday on Wood. Saturday will see a special drive for WEEE recycling with extra recycling centres open nationwide to accept a range of electrical goods for recycling.

Repak Recycling Week aims to get as many people recycling the maximum amount of packaging during the week and help Ireland work towards achieving its future recycling targets while also reducing their carbon footprint through recycling.

Repak would like to encourage members, Local Authorities and Recovery Operators to take part in the week and take advantage of consumers heightened awareness of recycling during the week.
The Annual Repak Recycling Awards, now in its 6th year, will take place on Thursday 4th October.
Every year the awards recognise the efforts and ingenuity of its Members, Local Authorities and recovery operators in the area of packaging prevention, reuse and recycling. However, on its 10th Anniversary, Repak will be taking this opportunity to honour and congratulate the early members that have been contributing to Repak and recycling since 1997.

These companies were pioneers in taking seriously and willingly their responsibility to fund the recovery and recycling of their used packaging. Some of the early members to sign up to Repak in 1997 include prominent businesses such as, Gallaher (Dublin) Ltd, John Players & Sons, Irish Biscuits, Cadbury Schweppes, Heineken Ireland Ltd, Guinnesses, Dunnes Stores, C&C Ltd, PJ Carroll, Irish Distillers Group, GreenCore Group, and Castrol Ltd, , Johnson & Johnson and Allied Foods Ltd, some of whom have been previous recipients of Repak awards.

Andrew Hetherington, CEO Repak, said, “All Repak members should be very proud of what they have facilitated Ireland to achieve in terms of packaging recycling over the last ten years. Since 1997 Repak members have invested in excess of €118 million in supporting the recovery and recycling of nearly 3 million tonnes of used packaging. It has met and exceed both the 2001 and 2005 EU packaging recovery/recycling targets by helping to grow packaging recycling from under 15% in 1998 to over 60% in 2006.

“We are calling on all companies to show their pride in what they have helped to achieve over the ten years by participating actively in Repak Recycling Week and engaging with consumers to promote packaging recycling.”
Full details of the Repak Recycling Week events and promotions are available on http://www.repak.ie/ .

Ireland Recycles More Than Twice the Weight of its Population

· Repak funded the recovery and recycling of c. 603,000

tonnes of waste packaging in 2006,
· That is 64% of all packaging placed on the market in 2006; a

c.7% increase on 2005.
· Since 1997 Repak have funded the recovery and recycling of

nearly 3 million tonnes of used packaging.
· Total Repak membership income exceeded €23.7m.
· Membership recruited 268 new members and generated an

additional €1.96m in fee income.
· Repak invested €22.6m in supporting packaging recycling

activity in 2006. This brings the total invested by Repak in

supporting packaging recycling to in excess of €117 million.
· Household plastic recycling increased to c. 19,700 tonnes; up from just less than 17,000 tonnes

in 2005.
· In 2006, Repak helped fund additional kerbside schemes reaching a further 58,000

households.
· The number of bring banks sites has increased by 866 over the last four years as a result of

the Joint DoE/Repak Bring Bank programme.
· 2,250 bring banks are now in place nationwide
· Repak funded kerbside dry recycling collections reaching in excess of 937,000 households in

2006; approximately 64% of all households in the State.

Repak’s 2006 results show a significant increase in packaging recycling from 565,000 tonnes in 2005 to 603,000 tonnes recycled in 2006. This equates to the average weight of 8.8 million people which is more than double the population of Ireland and has resulted in equivalent of 463,000 tonnes of carbon savings.
During the year household packaging recycling tonnages rose by 24% from 2005. While this is a significant increase it only represents just 29% of all recovered packaging but in fact accounts for 70% of the total Repak support funding. The results this year also show a 12% increase in glass recycling which reflects the increase in the use of Bring Banks.

In total for 2006:
- 111,283 tonnes of glass was recycled which equates to

approximately 214 million wine bottles or one giant glass

marble 100 metres in diameter
- 276,507 tonnes of paper and cardboard was recycled which

equates to 3.7 billion cereal boxes or the same as one giant box

37km high and 37 km wide able to hold 51million giant glass

marbles inside.

- 52,841 tonnes of plastic equivalent to 1.5 billion plastic drinks bottles, enough to create a line of bottles almost 45 times the

diameter of the earth
- 111,047 tonnes of wood was recycled enough wood to make 163 million hurling sticks
- 47,980 tonnes of steel, equivalent to the 1.25 billion food cans
- 3,567 tonnes of aluminium was recycled the equivalent of 214 million beverage cans
- In 2006, 83% of the waste packaging materials recovered and recycled were from glass,

cardboard/paper and wood. 17% of material was from plastic and metals.

Jason flies the flag at European Green Week

Learning from past successes and failures to ensure that current and future environmental challenges are addressed effectively was the goal of this year's Green Week, which ran in Brussels in June. Run by the European Commission, the annual conference and exhibition event is totally dedicated to the environment and welcomed a range of speakers from politics, science and business.

As part of the week a small delegation of Youth Eco-Parliament (YEP) participated in the environmental policy discussions and presented their ideas and recommendations for stopping the planet's environmental deterioration. Representing 3600 young people from 14 countries YEP's proposals for action were outlined in their ‘7 Open Letters’ which were distributed to the 4000 environmental opinion leaders and decision-makers participating in the Green Week.

Ireland was chosen as one of the delegations to take part and Repak chose Jason O’Connor who had previously represented Ireland at the Pro Europe Conference in Paris last October where YEP initially distributed their Open Letters to a public forum.

Jason was also chosen to front the YEP delegation in Brussels and to make a speech at the event’s closing ceremony. As part of his speech Jason highlighted that where they may not know everything about the environment today’s youth sector had the educational opportunities not open to many and therefore feel sufficiently qualified to form an opinion. Their opinion was that there was too much talk and not enough action with regards to environmental concerns. They therefore recommended that more co-operation and communication is needed and that young people can also play a proactive and vital role in ensuring the sustainability of the environment, not just for their generation but for those generations to come.

On his return, Jason called in to the Repak offices for a special presentation by Repak CEO Dr. Andrew Hetherington and Chairman, Mr. Adrian Goodrich. They presented Jason with the eco friendly Imax self sufficient radio which can run off solar and wind up energy.

Speaking of his time in Brussels, Jason thanked Repak for affording him the opportunity to attend and that he was now looking forward to pursuing a career in science after his leaving cert next year.

Repak EPA Prevention Programme Update

As part of its Packaging Prevention Programme, Repak has appointed consultants to examine the dyanamics behind product packaging decisions in terms of Who and Why?
The project which will identify and study a number of product supply chains with a view to identifying and understanding the packaging, and packaging design, decision-making process. The project will be carried out by Perchards, a consultancy firm with broad experience in packaging legislation.

The consultants will choose a number of common products, and work back through the supply chain and study the factors and dynamics of packaging decisions, including who makes decisions, for what reasons and in accordance with what requirements. It will further enquire if these decisions and design decisions could be changed and if there are barriers to such changes.
It is intended that the project will develop criteria for identifying suitable products for study based on criteria such as: amount of product sold, volume of packaging materials used in bringing product to point of sale, consumer perceptions of “over-packaging”, range of packaging options and choices, likely availability of good case study information, essential requirements, and best in class criteria.

It is anticipated that the project will be completed towards end 2007.

The full results of the study will be available from Repak.

Repak Service Providers Conference 2007

-Additional Funding Needed to Meet Future EU Packaging recycling Targets
-Investment in packaging recycling to rise to €45 million per year by 2011
-€117 million invested in packaging recycling by Repak since 1997
-Repak has funded the recycling of nearly 3 million tonnes of used packaging since 1997
-Repak agree 5 year Strategic Partnership with Government and stakeholders
-Changes to the packaging regulations to obligate more companies

The 2007 RPS Service Providers Conference was held in the Mullingar Park Hotel on the 25th April.
There are currently 153 Service Providers (Local Authorities and Commercial Waste Recycling Company’s) nationwide that are contracted by Repak for the recovery and recycling of packaging waste.
The general theme of the conference was “Sustainable Recycling”. Representatives from both Local Authority and Commercial Recovery Operators were in attendance.
Speakers on the day were Fred McDarby, Enterprise Ireland, Louis Duffy, Environment Dept, Cork County Council and Kathleen O’Donohue-Ryan, Best Practice Manager, Repak. The key note address was given by Minister of State for the Environment, Mr. Batt O’Keefe.
Attendees to the conference were informed that €180 million needs to be invested by Irish industry in packaging recycling over the next 5 years in order for Ireland to meet its next EU packaging recovery targets. By 2011 the annual funding of packaging recycling by Repak is forecast to rise to €45 million.
The new figures reflect a 50% increase in the funding for the next 5 years versus the amount invested over the last 10 years, as more recycled packaging is sourced from household bins throughout the country.
The figures were revealed against the backdrop of €117 million that Repak has invested in funding packaging recycling in Ireland to date, in meeting its member’s producer responsibility obligations to fund the recycling of their used packaging. Through this investment, packaging recycling has grown from under 15% in 1998 to over 60% in 2006. In total Repak has recorded the funding of nearly 3 million tonnes of used packaging since its establishment in 1997, which would otherwise have gone to landfill.

Fred McDarby presented on the plans for the €13 million government funded Market Development Programme. The delegates also heard details of the joint Repak/EPA Packaging Prevention programme that aims to reduce the volume of packaging being generated in the first place.

Future changes to the packaging regulations will see thousands of extra companies becoming obligated under the Waste Management Regulations (Packaging) was outlined by the minister for State Batt O’Keefe. Enforcement of this legislation is seen as key to ensuring that Ireland can continue to meet the steep costs of future packaging recycling targets.

As Repak celebrates its 10 year anniversary it outlined that central to ensuring that future funds were available to meet growing recycling targets meant not only large increases to existing members but more importantly bringing more companies into the producer responsibility net. Large companies who were currently ignoring the legislative obligation under producer responsibility also need to be identified and forced to comply.

Tidy Towns 2007 Launched

The Tidy Towns competition is a well known and well loved national competition organised by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. The competition involves participating towns being rated on all aspects of their local environment including litter control.

As the national Tidy Towns competition moves towards it’s 50th anniversary in 2008, Repak is delighted to continue its positive sponsorship arrangement with the DoEHLG and Ireland’s premier local community initiative, dedicated to ‘caring for the environment’.

In addition to the sponsorship of the 7 Regional Awards, Repak has again committed to the sponsorship of the new award for the ‘best presented and maintained bring bank site in each region’. This attracts a prize of €1,000 for the winner in each region and takes account both of presentation and utilisation by the local community in its evaluation. Certainly this award has complimented the existing Repak grant scheme which offers assistance to any local authority which is anxious to establish new bring bank sites in its area.

Speaking at the official launch on April 24th, Minister of State, Mr. Batt O'Keeffe TD, said "Last year a number of changes were introduced to strengthen Tidy Towns as it heads towards its fiftieth anniversary in 2008. This led to an unprecedented level of interest from communities all around Ireland and we hope that many of those who contacted the Department for information will go on to develop their ideas, form committees and take part this year”.

“2007 sees this programme of change continuing, with a particular emphasis on how to involve more communities and how to provide greater supports to existing participants”, he continued.

As the second biggest sponsor after Supervalu, Repak receive significant recognition of their sponsorship from the DoEHLG, LA’s, and the large dedicated teams of volunteers involved in the competition annually; as well as national media coverage, and accordingly have an effective opportunity to liaise with community leaders around the country and inform them of our activities and ambitions.

Repak Launch Easter Campaign 2007

Ø A tower of the 6 million Easter Eggs boxes consumed this year would
stretch to over 900km reaching all the way to Paris from Dublin
Ø Irish households to eat almost 1 million kilograms of chocolate over
the Easter period.
Ø 490,000 kilos of Easter Eggs used packaging will be generated.
Ø Repak Campaign calls for Irish public to recycle used Easter egg
packaging including the PET plastic moulded egg inserts
Ø Repak Recycling Hints and Tips for Easter 2007 revealed.
Ø 1 million bottles of wine will be consumed over the Easter period.

Irish chocoholics will this year consume enough Easter Eggs to create a monster egg over 5 times the height of the new U2 Tower in the Docklands at 614 meters high and 425 meters wide according to research by Repak, the packaging recycling scheme. A trail of the 6 million Easter Eggs boxes consumed this year would stretch to over 900km reaching all the way to Paris from Dublin and contain enough chocolate to fill 6 Olympic sized swimming pools. The facts were released as part of this years’ Repak Easter Campaign, which is urging householders to getting cracking and make an egg-stra effort to recycle the 490,000 kilos of cardboard, plastic and aluminium packaging from Easter egg boxes.

With over quarter of Irish people claiming they will have a few alcoholic drinks on Good Friday it is estimated that the resultant Easter festivities will generate over 15 million beverage cans and 1 million bottles of wine. Repak is urging all households to use their household collections, Recycling Centers and BringBanks to recycle all of this used packaging rather than sending it to landfill.

National Spring Clean 2007

An Taisce’s National Spring Clean campaign 2007 has now come to its conclusion and initial estimates from An Taisce point to it being the largest to date. The campaign was launched in Bray on April 2nd by Dick Roche TD, former Minister for the Environment and received tremendous coverage in the national press and TV media.

Since then over 4,000 events have taken place throughout the country, with over 398,000 volunteers giving up there own time to help reduce litter in Ireland. This number is up from 3,594 events and 341,000 participants in 2006

It is Repak’s fourth year to get on board and to encourage that all recyclables collected would be recycled in the various available amenities. To ensure this Repak again sponsored the colour coded refuse sacks used for collecting recyclable materials which An Taisce sends to all registered groups. Last year (2006), an estimated 3,340 tonnes of litter was collected of which 35% was recycled. National Spring Clean Manager, Emlyn Cullen expressed his thanks to all the campaigns sponsors, “It is only with their generous on-going support that the Spring Clean continues to grow year on year”, he said.

A major boost to the campaign this year came with the launch of a new website: http://www.nationalspringclean.org/. For the first time participants could now register their events online. The website has been very successful with 10% of all registrations coming through the site.

Congratulation to all those who gave up there time to take part and make this the most successful Spring Clean ever!

Repak Oireachtas Evening

In March of this year, Repak invited members of the Oireachtas to an informal briefing session in the Royal College of Physicians, Dublin.

The purpose of the event was to highlight the success of Repak in its 10 years of being and to highlight the issues that still face the company and its members.

Repak CEO, Dr. Andrew Hetherington expressed his confidence that Ireland can indeed achieve its 2011 packaging recycling target of 60%, however with an added note of warning, he concluded that if we are to mirror the success of our European counterparts, support from all sectors would be necessary for Ireland to hit recycling rates of 95%.


“We need all of the players in the game working off the same gameplan”, he said. “That includes business, Government, local authorities, waste collectors, schools and householders

Repak & EPA Prevention Programme 2007

The first two in a series of seminars in the Repak ‘Prevent and Save’ programme were held recently in Dublin and Cork. The seminars drew an attendance of over 100 Repak members who heard presentations from a range of experts in the field, as well as a number of well presented case studies from existing members.

The Dublin seminar, held at Enterprise Ireland’s headquarters in Glasnevin, was opened by the former Environment Minister, Dick Roche, TD who highlighted the vital role that prevention has in the arena of packaging growth, recovery and recycling.

The prevention programme is being headlined and funded jointly by Repak and the EPA in association with the DoEHLG.

The programme measures will see:
· a series of awareness raising seminars
· a what is best practice packaging website
· a supply chain benchmarking study
· exemplar best practice case studies
· consumer research study on packaging preferences and purchase behaviour
· Packaging Design Awards aimed at promoting examples of best practice
· Development of a carbon footprint calculator for member companies
· Development of a interactive householder carbon footprint calculator

Additional backup is provided by Enterprise Ireland who have lent their considerable weight of expertise in packaging technology to the programme. Repak received very favourable feed back from the seminars and are currently looking to repeat the exercise.

The packaging recycling rate in Ireland stands at an all time high of 60%, while the volume of packaging on the market continues to grow in line with changing demographics and economic activity. The Packaging Waste Prevention Programme aims to utilise the best indigenous and international experience and practice to educate and promote improvements in packaging utilisation including product minimisation, material light weighting and replacement strategies.

Repak Awarded Vodafone Passion for the World by South Dublin Chamber

At a special presentation ceremony on Thursday 1st February, Vodafone and South Dublin Chamber announced Repak as the first business recipient of a Vodafone Passion for the World Around Us Award.

The Passion for the World Around Us Awards are run by Vodafone in partnership with South Dublin Chamber and 17 other Chambers nationwide. The awards recognise and reward people and businesses who make an effort to improve their local communities and who have been successful in making a positive contribution to the world around them. Repak received a certificate and a specially commissioned, handmade award designed by Irish artist Michele Hannan at a special presentation in Repak Headquarters on 1st February 2007.

Repak was awarded for what was recognised as ‘an outstanding achievement in creating a powerful brand for recycling, and positive change’. Repak’s focus on environmental protection and recycling as well as highly effective awareness campaigns including those specifically targeted at school children were all cited as reasons for their achievement.

Brenda Hunt, Vodafone Corporate Responsibility Executive said, Repak’s admirable commitment to their work is an example for the rest of us to follow and the company has undoubtedly made a positive impact in South Dublin”.

‘Repak are delighted to receive this award’ announced Repak CEO, Mr. Andrew Hetherington. ‘Particularly in this, our tenth year of operation and especially on the recent confirmation from the EPA that Repak have helped Ireland achieve and well exceed its 2005 EU packaging recovery and recycling target of 50%.’ ‘Repak have invested over €100 million of our member’s money in supporting Local Authorities and private collectors to achieve a packaging recycling rate of over 60%.’ ‘This Vodafone passion award acknowledges the role Repak subsidies and educational programs have played in changing our national recycling behaviour.’

Also Congratulating Repak at the presentation, Mary Grassick of South Dublin Chamber said “We are delighted to be involved with the Vodafone Passion for the World Around Us Awards as they enable us to acknowledge people and businesses such as Repak who make our community a more pleasant place to live.