Studies have shown that 86% of Irish people believe Ireland would be greener if the public did more to protect the environment.
That's according to a new study carried out by Repak, which shows public opinion and attitude towards recycling and plastics.
The non-profit recycling organisation launched 'Team Green' in 2018, which has encouraged people to recycle correctly, and has resulted in an increase of recycled plastic packaging by over 17,000 tonnes.
The theme of this year’s Repak 'Team Green' campaign is called ‘Re-Imagine’ and has been created to help extend the consumers understanding of how recycled plastic can be made into many different products and materials if recycled correctly.
Ireland currently recycles 31% of all plastics, but only 21% of people are aware that it needs to increase to 50% by 2025 under EU Legislation. Learning what items can and cannot be recycled, as well as putting all recyclable packaging waste into the recycling bin clean, dry and loose is what everyone in Ireland must do to reach the 50% target.
Other findings from the survey include that:
- 75% believe recycling correctly is the first step to driving environmental change in addition to avoiding single use plastics (59%) and walking or cycling more often (49%)
- 86% feel Ireland would be greener if the public did more to protect the environment
- 9 in 10 think Irish businesses have a responsibility to make Ireland a greener place but just 14% have a strong understanding of businesses sustainability efforts
- A year on since Repak and MyWaste announced that all plastics can go into the recycling bin, 27% still believe that only rigid plastics can go in the recycling bin
