Eamonn Farrell / Photocall Ireland Eamonn Farrell / Photocall Ireland / Photocall Ireland

IT’S BEEN EXACTLY twenty years since Repak first established itself in Ireland, aiming to fundamentally change the way that people thought about and processed their rubbish, and its inevitable impact on the environment.

In that time, over €400 million has been contributed by Repak members to support recycling in Ireland and we’ve reached a 91% rate of recovery and recycling of all waste packaging. This places us within the top seven countries in Europe for recycling.

Over the next two years, Repak will install 100 new bottle banks around the country to ensure that we stay on track for the EU’s targets (at present we’re either achieving or on track for 31 of 34 goals).

But before then, let’s take a moment to appreciate what it really took to decrease our number of landfills from 126 to four.

Here’s what we’ve recycled, in terms you can get to grips with.

1. In 20 years, we’ve recycled the weight of 790,514 Dublin Buses in packaging

Sasko Lazarov Sasko Lazarov

During the last two decades, Repak estimates that 10 million tonnes of packaging has been diverted from landfills. When you consider how little most of the packaging you would usually throw out weighs, that’s a lot of full recycling bins.

2. Last year, we recycled the weight of 4.2 million Guinness kegs in paper

Shutterstock / AGITA LEIMANE Shutterstock / AGITA LEIMANE / AGITA LEIMANE

Last year, a total of 593,991 tonnes of waste was sent for recycling. According to Repak, nearly half (49.7%) of this consisted of paper, while over a fifth (22.2%) was glass, 14.3% was plastic and nearly 10% was wood.

3. In the last six years, we’ve avoided the weight of half the Golden Gate Bridge going in a landfill

In the last six years alone, we’ve managed to save 470,000 tonnes of waste from ending up in a landfill. For those of you who have spent time in San Francisco, that’s about half the weight of its famous steel bridge, which spans 1.7 miles.

4. In ten years, we reduced the waste per person per year by 256 bags of sugar

Shutterstock / iprachenko Shutterstock / iprachenko / iprachenko

According to the Environmental Protection Agency in 2014, we had reduced our waste per capita to 331 kilograms per person per year. This was down from what Eurostat estimated was around 587 per capita in 2004.

5. Last year, we recycled the weight of 287,350 fridges in electrical waste

Shutterstock / Andrey_Popov Shutterstock / Andrey_Popov / Andrey_Popov

Last year alone, we collectively recycled approximately 34,482 tonnes of electrical waste across Ireland.

6. Last year, we recycled an extra 120 Spires worth of packaging

Andrew Parnell Andrew Parnell

Our achievements wouldn’t be possible if they didn’t increase each year and according to Repak, last year was no exception. Last year, we recycled an extra 17,856 tonnes, which is equivalent to about 120 times the weight of Dublin’s Spire.

7. Last year, we recycled 32 million batteries

Shutterstock / Oleksii Fedorenko Shutterstock / Oleksii Fedorenko / Oleksii Fedorenko

Last year alone, we recycled 812 tonnes of batteries, which amounts to almost eight batteries per person in Ireland.

8. Each year, we all use 286 less shopping bags on average

Shutterstock / connel Shutterstock / connel / connel

According to Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, we have reduced the number of plastic bags we use per capita by 307 per year to 21 per capita per year.

Celebrate twenty years of Repak by learning exactly what should or shouldn’t be recycled. Visit repak.ie to find out exactly what you can put into your recycling bin. Change for the better and recycle – just make sure you’re doing it right.