Latest news with #VoiceIreland
Irish Times
6 days ago
- General
- Irish Times
Buy, eat, bin, repeat - we are locked in a never-ending flow of waste
How many pieces of plastic and packaging waste go into your recycling bin every day? It's five items per person, according to a new survey. That's 73 pieces in your household's fortnightly bin collection from each individual, according to the data. If you're a family of four, that's almost 300 items. The figures come from a recent national recycling bin survey by environmental charity Voice Ireland. Participating householders audited their recycling bin contents over a two-week period this summer. The aim was to find out what exactly is in our bins and where it's all coming from. Some 70 per cent of waste in the average household recycling bin came into the home from the supermarket, according to the survey. Some of that packaging isn't even functional, beyond presenting the product in a way that makes it stand out on a shelf and more attractive for you to buy. READ MORE I give you onions in a net. The net is not recyclable, by the way. The overuse of single-use plastic is often justified by supermarkets with the arguments of hygiene and food waste reduction. However, a study by international environmental NGO Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) demonstrated that for typical fresh produce 'plastic packaging had no or little meaningful effect' in keeping the produce fresher for longer. Yet, households bear the responsibility and the cost of disposing of all of this packaging. Buy, eat, bin, repeat – each of us is locked in a never-ending flow of waste. We pay for all of this plastic and packaging at the checkout, and we pay for it again through our bin charges. Our homes have become a cog, another processing centre, in the ever-turning wheel of waste. [ Microplastics: how dangerous are they and how can we reduce our risk? Opens in new window ] Half of all plastic is designed to be single-use, often discarded after just 12 minutes, says Voice. Most of us don't like how all this rubbish makes us feel. Some nine in 10 households in the survey reported feeling 'frustrated' by the amount of waste entering their homes. Recycling can seem like it's a good thing, but not if the volume of plastic and packaging that needs to be recycled just keeps getting bigger. The materials and energy used to make more and more of this stuff, even if it is recycled properly, has an effect on the planet. Globally, plastic production emits more than 50 million tonnes of greenhouse gases annually, according to Voice. And not all plastic and packaging can be recycled, or is recycled. This is the planetary crisis bit: plastics are present everywhere, even in our bodies, with microplastics found in humans, animals, oceans, soil, and even the air we breathe. In Ireland, we're recycling more than ever by weight, but our overall recycling rate isn't improving because our consumption of packaging is growing even faster. Ireland is the number one producer of plastic packaging waste per capita in the European Union, with 67kg per person in 2023, a 50 per cent increase since 2013, according to Eurostat figures quoted by Voice. Moreover, Ireland's current recycling rate for plastic packaging, at 32 per cent, is falling short of our EU targets of 50 per cent by 2025, according to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) figures quoted by Voice. That's why it's so important to track where the stuff in our recycling bin is coming from. Supermarkets are the biggest culprit. The Government needs to get much more ambitious in tackling the packaging problem, the charity says. Single-use plastic is not a sustainable consumption model and recycling is limited in its ability to mitigate the waste crisis. Politicians need to set targets to reduce the quantity of packaging and plastic put on the market, as well as setting legally binding reuse and refill targets for retailers. Industries must be required to submit plans to phase out single-use plastics. Supermarkets themselves must introduce reuse and refill systems and make progress updates publicly available. Consumers can make a difference too. When available and affordable, shop where there are refill and reuse options. Invest in reusable containers like water bottles and coffee cups too. And tell your local supermarket, shop, takeaway manager and TD that there is too much plastic and packaging waste coming into your home.
Irish Times
16-06-2025
- General
- Irish Times
What exactly is in our bins? A new survey hopes to find out
Are you sick of the amount of plastic and packaging coming into your home? Milk cartons, cereal boxes, food packaging, junk mail, takeaway boxes – it can feel like we are locked in a cycle of creating a never-ending stream of rubbish. A new survey is looking for your help in stopping the flow. A national recycling bin survey, running for the next two weeks, aims to find out what exactly is in our bins and who else must shoulder responsibility for it. 'For too long, the blame for waste reduction has been on consumer behaviour, but maybe we need to look further upstream,' says environmental charity Voice Ireland, which is running the survey. READ MORE Plastic made up 50 per cent of the average Irish recycling bin, according to the same survey carried out in 2023. Doing a deep dive into their recycling bins, participating householders in Ireland catalogued more than 10,000 individual items. Supermarkets were responsible for two-thirds of all packaging waste, according to the citizen research group. 'This means the problem isn't just individual behaviour – it's what's being put on our shelves in the first place,' Voice Ireland concluded. 'The survey aims to flip the script and look at the source of packaging waste – retailers and producers – so we can push for changes that actually reduce waste at the design and distribution stages,' it says. Beginning on June 15th, households are invited to collect two full weeks of data, ending on June 30th. This entails counting and recording the packing in your household recycling bin, and noting where the items came from, for example the supermarket or takeaways. [ Ireland's recycling rate has not improved for a decade, while waste continues to grow Opens in new window ] There are two ways to take part. Simply use your recycling bin as usual for the next two weeks, then you can either spill out your recycling the day before collection and take a user-friendly online survey on your phone to record the items in it. Alternatively, you can use the special 'tally as you go' sheet to record the items you are recycling in real time. Collecting information like this is not just helping to shift all the blame from consumers, the data can also inform better policymaking. Some things have changed since the last survey. The deposit return scheme means some plastic bottles and cans are being recycled differently. The European Union Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) will require actual reductions in packaging, not just changes in how we recycle it. By 2030, certain types of single-use plastic packaging – such as those for unprocessed fruit and vegetables – will be banned. These changes are a step in the right direction – but without independent, citizen-led data, it's hard to measure their real impact or make the case for going further, says Voice Ireland. Even though in Ireland we're recycling more than ever by weight, our overall recycling rate isn't improving – because our packaging consumption is growing 2½ times faster. That's why it's so important to track what's really happening on the ground, the charity says. Participating in this survey over the next two weeks is a small commitment, but it can have a big impact. People who are willing to look in their bins are helping to ask tough questions and build pressure for real change. Oh, and those who complete the survey will be in with a chance to win one of five €100 One4All gift vouchers. You can sign up at
