(plasticsinfomart) -- Repak is urging householders to recycle up to half of the used packaging over the holiday period - 98% of which is not Easter egg-related.
Last year Repak helped to recycle 18,300 tonnes of mixed packaging from households over the Easter period - the highest since its establishment in 1997.
At the launch of its Easter recycling campaign yesterday, Repak pointed out that Easter egg consumption increased by 3.4% last year, with Irish people spending EUR24.2m on Easter eggs alone.
This Easter Irish people will consume more than 9.5m Easter eggs - an average of 2.13 eggs per person.Almost 70% of Irish households buy Easter confectionery, with the average shopper buying around eight eggs.
As well as eating 1,000 tonnes of Easter chocolate, over 6.5m litres of wine and 15m litres of beers is expected to be drunk over Easter, especially at Good Friday parties.As well as reducing the size of the outer cartons, manufacturers have lightened the cardboard and many have removed the previously used plastic inserts, as well as experimenting with packaging-free eggs.
Repak is an industry funded organisation whose aim it is to facilitate and grow packaging recycling.
MRC