Cullen launches beverage carton recycling initiative

05/05/2004

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"An excellent example of how a partnership approach can assist in the achievement of environmental objectives", so said Martin Cullen, T.D., Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government today (5 May 2004). The Minister was speaking when he launched an initiative to recycle used beverage containers in the Dublin area.

This initiative which involves the four Dublin local authorities, a major packaging producer - Tetra Pak, and the recycling industry working together to recycle used beverage cartons. The project is receiving financial support from Repak.

The new initiative involves the addition of beverage cartons – used as packaging for milk, fruit juices and soup – to the materials already separately collected from Dublin households for recycling i.e. paper, newsprint (newspapers and magazines), light cardboard packaging, food tins and drink cans. Under the initiative, the collected beverage cartons will be baled and transported to the Smith Anderson paper mill in Scotland for reprocessing into paper products, including paper bags, stationery and envelopes.

"We are now making real progress in upping our recycling rates", the Minister added. "From a very low base just a matter of years ago, we achieved the EU target of 25% for packaging waste recycling waste in 2001 and are on course to meet the higher target of 50% by end 2005. This progress is being facilitated by the active implementation of the local and regional waste management plans.

The four Dublin local authorities have been particularly proactive in the area of waste management – rolling out expanded networks of bring banks and civic amenity recycling centres, as well as providing segregated green bin collection of recyclables to some 300,000 households in the region. The inclusion of beverage cartons in the kerbside green bin collection service will give further impetus to increased recycling in the household sector in the Dublin region, diverting even greater volumes of waste from landfill".

"For beverage carton recycling to be both economically viable and environmentally friendly, it is critical that a sufficient volume of material is collected. Kerbside green bin collection offers the best potential of generating the necessary mass, complemented by weight or volume related waste charging directly incentivising households to segregate as much material as possible for recycling", Minister Cullen stated. "I compliment all stakeholders involved in getting this important recycling initiative off the ground", Minister Cullen concluded.