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