IRELAND HAS HIT its recycling targets for the 24th consecutive year, a new report from non-profit Repak has found.

The report showed how Repak achieved an overall recycling rate of 66% and recovery rate of 96% – surpassing EU targets set at 65% for recycling and 75% for recovery.

In 2021, the non-profit funded the recycling and recovery of 1,020,580 tonnes of packaging material – surpassing the one million mark for the third time.

“Overall, recycling rates increased by 15,639 tonnes (2.2%) to 718,683 tonnes. The increased rate of recycling was primarily driven by households (4% increase). Repak funded the recovery of 302,000 tonnes of packaging – a decrease of 33,000 tonnes (10%) on 2020 which was due to the diverting of more material to recycling,” the report stated. 

The number of plastic tonnes recycled was 96,412, an 8% increase on 2020. The overall plastic recycling rate in the year increased from 29% to 31%

The report found: “All key materials surpassed current EU recycling targets: Glass 86% (EU target 60%), Metal 71% (EU target 50%), Paper 84% (EU target 60%), Plastic 31% (EU target: 22.5%), Wood 69% (EU target 15%).

“Paper was also up on 2020 with an additional 5,757 tonnes being recycled on 2021. Glass (6,361 tonnes) and steel (1,827 tonnes) showed a small drop off on 2020 with prolonged closures caused by Covid-19 for businesses during the year being the main reason and in line with expectations due to the pandemic.”

Speaking on the strong performance for the Irish waste industry, Repak boss Séamus Clancy said: 

“Ireland has been a leading nation in waste management for the last 23 years, surpassing all targets to date, but we are now reaching a critical juncture. Policy created to achieve future recycling targets is now being implemented and this demands an evolution of how we manage our packaging waste.

“To date, excellent progress has been made in implementing key legislative requirements and this is with thanks to the significant work done by Repak to progress policy in a financially prudent and innovative manner.”