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IRELAND HAS SURPASSED every recycling and recovery target set for it by the European Commission, making it the 21st year in a row that Ireland has surpassed all recycling and recovery targets.
Ireland’s overall recycling rate of 68% for all materials is ahead of the EU targets by 13% and one of the lead performances in Europe, according to Repak.
The breakdown of recycling rates by materials are as follows:
In 2018, recycling increased by 15,930 tonnes (2.5%) to 636,310 tonnes and plastic waste recovery increased by 70,431 tonnes (35.7%) to 267,939 tonnes.
In total, Repak funded the recovery and recycling of 904,249 tonnes of packaging waste in 2018, an increase of 86,361 tonnes from 2017. This is the highest volume ever recorded in Ireland, and a 10.5% increase on 2017’s figure.
The announcement was made this morning by Repak, Ireland’s only government-approved packaging recycling compliance scheme, at the launch of its 2018 Annual Report, ‘Shared Responsibility’.
Repak funds the collection of household recycling bins, civic amenity sites and bottle banks nationwide. In 2018, household and domestic recycling increased by 6,000 tonnes (2%) and commercial recycling increased by 10,000 tonnes (3%).
While Ireland currently recycles 33% of all plastics, higher than most EU countries, that figure needs to rise to 50% in 2025 and 55% by 2030 to meet EU targets.
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You spend ages waiting on a bus and then 800 come along at once…
@The Alchemist’s Head: Rail seems to be the only way forward for inner city commuting. Its a logistical nightmare trying to set it up but I’d say its well worth it in the long run.
Great news but did I miss where the country has won the lottery recently? Where is all the money coming from? Or is it a case of when you are broke you might as well spend big?
@Bo bo: Interest rates are set at zero or negative by the European Central Bank and they are printing endless amounts of money for capital spending. The EU is providing lots of funds for green initiatives as well. There will never be a better time to do this.
@Bo bo: credit card!!
And where does the recharge power come from? Solar, wind, tidal? No, it would be fossil fuels.
This is window dressing.
@Fred the Muss…: Fossil fuel is being phased out rapidly. Moneypoint and coal will be gone by 2025.
@Fred the Muss…: The thousands getting hosed down by, & / or inhaling, diesel exhaust fumes daily probably won’t agree with that… besides, electric from renewables increasing every year – 15% in 2010, 33% in 2018, 37% in 2019. Compare that to the 15 years Euro 4 to Euro 6′s been around – zero improvements required re: CO2, & as for NOX – well, we all know how manufacturers have been getting around that.
@Fred the Muss…: yes Window Dressing that’s a great way of putting it, how the power is generated (electricity) and all the manufacturing processes especially the batteries the maintenance etcétera, then it has to start somewhere for it to develop
Good news for the environment but I wonder what the lasting impact of COVID on public transport will be. As someone sitting on a bus writing this right now it’s very hard not to view them as giant germ boxes with poor ventilation and inconsiderate fellow passengers. Will everyone who swapped the bus or train for the car over the past few months suddenly rush back after there’s a vaccine? I have my doubts.
@David Law: very simple. Your Leap card is replaced with the microchip you get as part of vaccination. You can’t get in the bus without the microchip.
@David Law: They will if the traffic is appalling.
How is the electricity required for the batteries produced?
@Claude Saulnier: How are the batteries actually produced ? Interesting to see how manufactured and recycled at scale when everyone drives electric
@Wadi:
‘We now have a contractual agreement with our cell manufacturers that they will use only green power to produce our fifth generation battery cells,’ BMW Chief Executive Oliver Zipse said…
https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-bmw-electric-batteries/bmw-to-source-battery-cells-produced-using-renewable-energy-idUKKBN24114R
As for battery recycling, VW’s building a plant for that
https://www.volkswagenag.com/en/news/stories/2019/02/lithium-to-lithium-manganese-to-manganese.html
At what cost?
Don’t suppose any of these buses will be running all week so i can use them for work? or will it just be part time like the rest of them?
This looks like total greenwash as (It’s reported) the buses will still run for about 85% of the time on diesel and all need to be recharged at night at the same time. A much cheaper and better solution would be to buy the sort of modern Trolleybuses that are used in 300 odd cities worldwide. Modern Trolleys have enough battery power to run 50 or 60 Km in town and recharge from the overhead wires while in use. They also have lowered floors like all other modern buses. Also the problems with the poles coming off the wires is largely solved now but most importantly they are POLLUTION FREE.
@mmz: ‘the buses will still run for about 85% of the time on diesel’
Huh? This tender seeks buses with a 300kWh minimum battery. Think you’re confused with the hybrids.
Its a start but they will be refundant in 7/8 years with the batteries depleted and the cost of replacement prohibitive…..why are we once again the last country to look at hydrogen fuel cell technology…we should be following the advances made in Japan, Korea, China and Australia and adopt hydroggen for all HGV goods as well as promoting a whole new indusry for green hydrogen production….
have your say