Recycling group Repak today announced plans to donate £10 to St. Vincent de Paul for every extra tonne of glass collected from nationwide bottlebanks over the next six months.
The company has also guaranteed an initial donation of £10,000 for the SVP as part of the scheme, which aims to increase recycling in Ireland.
There were 31,000 tonnes of glass bottles and jars collected in Ireland last year, and Repak are aiming to double that figure. The scheme will also help Ireland meet EU targets on waste packaging by the end of the year.
Repak chief executive Mr Andrew Hetherington said both the SVP and the environment would benefit from the new initiative.
"It is simply not good enough that glass bottles and coffee, jam and sauce jars are going to landfill when there is a specific demand for used glass as a raw material source," he said.
National president of the Society of St Vincent de Paul Mr Noel Clear said he was delighted to be associated with the project.
Repak is a Government-approved non-profit organisation representing 2,100 Irish companies. It co-ordinates and finances the recycling of packaging waste.