New figures from Repak show the amount of packaging waste recycled last year was up 36% on 2001, but the organisation has warned that greater enforcement is required if future targets are to be reached.
Repak said 323,000 tons of packaging waste was recycled which amounts to about 40% of all packaging placed in the Irish market. A breakdown of the figures shows that glass recycling is up 25%, cardboard up 42% and plastic up 17% on 2001.
Repak said it either allocated or invested nearly €15m in recycling in 2002 and its membership had doubled. 15% of the total figure recycled came from the domestic sector – more than a quarter of a million households are now serviced by kerbside dry recyclable collections.