05/10/2005

Archived item. This item is published here for historical reasons. The information below may be out of date.

South Dublin County Householders Urged to Drive recycling during Repak Recycling Week

§         Repak Recycling Week Competition offers recyclers chance to win a Toyota Prius with Hybrid Synergy Drive Technology

§         15,000 Recycling Bags to be given away in South Dublin County Council’s  Civic Amenity site – see details

§         Thousands of Euro worth of shopping vouchers to be won

§         South Dublin County Libraries to feature Repak Recycling Week educational material on packaging recycling.

§         Primary schools to receive recycling calendars

§         South Dublin County Recycling Rate Achieved in 2004 was 24.4%.

§         South Dublin County Council nominated for the Best Local Authority Initiative

§         5 Schools Nominated for Repak Recycling Awards

(29.09.05) Repak, the industry funded recycling scheme, is calling on all South County Dublin householders to increase their recycling efforts during this year’s 5^th annual Repak Recycling Week which runs from the 3^rd to the 9^th October and possibly drive away in a new Toyota Prius with Hybrid Synergy Drive ®  Technology car for their efforts. 

In order to encourage people to visit the local recycling centres, “Repak passwords” will be erected on Bring Banks at the centres. By texting the “Repak password” to the low text number (51727) recyclers will be in for a chance to win a Toyota Prius, the world’s first mass produced Hybrid Synergy Drive ® Technology vehicle.  Daily winners of shopping vouchers will be announced on the Damien Farrelly Show on 2FM (weekdays 12 until 2), with the overall winner selected on the Friday 7th. 

In addition, Repak has teamed up with the Rehab Recycling Partnership to distribute 50,000 re-usable recycling bags for free in manned Recycling Centres throughout the country. These will be available at Ballymount Civic Amenity site on a first come basis over the week. 

As part of the Week, the 4^th Repak Recycling Awards will take place on the Wednesday 5^th October.  The awards recognise the efforts and ingenuity of its Members, Local Authorities and Collectors in the area of packaging prevention, reuse and recycling.

South Dublin County Council has been nominated together for the Best Local Authority Initiative.   Coláiste Bride Secondary School , Clondalkin and Scoil Maelruain, Tallaght have all been nominated in the Repak Recycling School of the Year category.

In targeting young recyclers a special recycling activity calendar and information pack will be sent to all primary school in the county. This is designed to promote Repak Recycling Week and encourage primary school children to actively participate in recycling during the week and the month of October itself.

In addition Libraries throughout Dublin will have their own Repak Recycling Week displays to help educate visitors on packaging recycling. Information on the displays and the opening times for libraries in the South Dublin County area are available on the website www.southdublin.ie.

Andrew Hetherington, CEO Repak, said, “This year to congratulate established recyclers and to encourage new recyclers, we are offering the chance to win the environmentally innovative Toyota Prius.  Getting more people to recycle in South Dublin County is essential to meeting tough new European recycling targets.  In addition we also need families to look deeper into what they throw out to see if it can be recycled.  More materials are being added to the list of what can be recycled and this week is a great opportunity to check out what you can bring to the local recycling centres.

Commenting on the week Thérèse Ridge, Mayor of South Dublin County Council, said “I urge everyone in South Dublin County to  recycle more and more. This will divert waste from landfill and save on precious resources. I also encourage everyone to exercise their consumer power by buying recyclable and recycled material. We all have a choice, let’s choose recycle. Go to your bring bank this week or the Civic Amenity site, Ballymount and do your bit for the environment.”

This year, the theme for the week is “Keep Recycling – let’s get it sorted” and is supported by a nationwide educational and promotional campaign. Repak Recycling Week aims to get as many people recycling the maximum amount of packaging during the week and help this year achieve its 2005 EU packaging recovery target of 50%.

To help consumer get into the recycling habit Repak will be listing full details of participating local authority recycling centres on the Repak website www.repak.ie. This info rmation will also be available through the LoCall number 1 850 909999 operated between 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday.

Last year, the Repak Recycling Week campaign contributed to growing household packaging recycling rates by 24% in 2004.

About Toyota Prius

Toyota Prius, European Car of the Year 2005, is propelled by the combination of an electric motor and a petrol engine. This unique system, called Toyota Hybrid Synergy Drive® Technology, enables its petrol engine to quickly shut down in city driving, saving fuel and emissions. It cuts fuel consumption by 40% when compared to a conventional 1.5 petrol engine and its CO2 emissions at 104g/km are 40% lower than the European standards for 2005. This spearheads the development of new environmentally friendly powertrains and is part of Toyota ’s effort to create the ultimate eco car.

About Repak