Repak Urges Householders to Recycle More and “Get out of the Kitchen”.

PRLog (Press Release) – Oct 06, 2008 – Thousands of tonnes of household waste are landfilled every year due to householder recycling misconceptions.  Recent research carried out by Repak shows 50 percent of the Irish population are not recycling regularly from other rooms in the house beyond the kitchen. 89% of respondents said they recycled regularly from the kitchen, while only 45% regularly recycle from the bathroom, 43% from the bedroom and only 24% recycle from the home office or study.

Repak are asking householders and businesses to recycle more used packaging to help reach the 750,000 tonnes target by the end of 2008. This is an increase of 100,000 tonnes from 2007, so we have to recycle up to 15% more than was recycled last year. People therefore need to double their recycling efforts, filling an extra two green recycling bins per household.  There are a number of materials in the house which are readily recyclable in the existing collection systems that people are still not recycling. Only 55% of adults recycle steel food cans, only 49% are recycling aerosol cans (shaving foam, air freshner and deodorant cans) and 41% still not recycling sweet or biscuit tins, 45% are still not recycling aluminium or foil trays from, take-aways and cake and tart holders. Over a third of householders 39% are   not recycling plastic detergent/cleaning products bottles, 32% are not recycling shampoo or conditioner bottles.

Commenting on the results from the survey, Andrew Hetherington CEO of Repak said “It is clear from the results that there is plenty of room for improvement when it comes to packaging recycling in the home. Recycling in the home is very convenient now as over 1.1 million households now have direct access to a household dry recyclable collection (green bins). So we want to encourage people to scour each room in the house and check what additional packaging items they are not recycling that can be recycled. As part of campaign we are asking people to log onto Recyclemore.ie to learn how and what more they can recycle to help us maximise our recycling efforts.”

The most forgotten recycled items in the house are
•   51% are not recycling aerosol cans for deodorant, air freshener, polish,
•   45% do not recycle foil trays from take aways and tart holders
•   41% are not regularly recycling sweet or biscuit tins
•   39% do not recycle plastic detergent or cleaning products bottles
•   35% do not recycle plastic toiletry bottles

Renters are falling behind
An interesting comparison to arise from the survey was that those renting are also less likely to recycle with an average claimed recycling rate of 42% versus 53% for home owners. Their propensity to recycle from different areas of the house is also less than for home owners. Only 30% of renters recycle from the bedroom in comparison to 43% for homeowners and 40% recycle from the bathroom regularly versus 54% for home owners.

Apartment dwellers are also less likely to regularly use bottle banks (52%) and recycling centres (27%) as opposed to home owners 72% and 47% respectively.

To help reach the 2008 packaging recycling target of 750,000 tonnes Repak are calling on all householders, apartment or house owners, to recycle more used packaging from around the household. Repak are highlighting the forgotten recycling hotspots and items in their advertising and on their website Recyclemore.ie to try and increase packaging recycling rates. By logging on to the website households can get hints and tips on recycling all around the house and from each individual room and help grow Ireland’s overall packaging recycling rate.

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