Householders on pay-by-weight and pay-by-use waste charges save on average €95 a year on bin charges but only 28 per cent are on such systems, a survey has shown.
In the survey by Repak, 84 per cent of those on the two systems, PBW/PBU, claimed it had encouraged them to recycle more.
Repak commented that despite the Minister for the Environment's directive to adopt PBW/PBU in 2005, only 28 per cent claimed to be on them.
To date the directive had predominately been implemented by the local authorities while private contractors largely overlook the directive, it said.
Repak, on the first day today of Repak Recycling Week, which continues until October 8th, is calling for greater use of PBW/PBU charging systems.
Andrew Hetherington, Repak CEO, said: "PBW/PBU is equitable and provides a direct incentive for people to recycle. Unfortunately, the system is not as pervasive throughout the country as some might believe. Where it is present, what we are witnessing is huge growth in recycling, with people using kerbside and bring collections, as they are simple and convenient."
He said the dual system of recycling centres and kerbsides had helped Ireland exceed its EU target by 14 per cent last year.
"However, to continue to grow our recycling rates we are calling for more widespread introduction of PBW/PBU systems," he said.
Not only had PBW/PBU helped increase recycling but it also encouraged people to be more environmentally aware by reducing their waste, composting more and being more conscientious in their purchasing, Mr Hetherington added.
Repak found that household packaging recycling increased by 59 per cent in 2005, with the volume of packaging recycled through kerbside or "green bin" collection systems up 140 per cent. Repak-funded kerbside collections reached an additional one million people.
According to the survey, 73 per cent of people recycled used packaging, 47 per cent recycled old clothes and 35 per cent recycled electrical goods.
This compared with those on PBW/PBU, where 88 per cent recycled used packaging, 62 per cent old clothes and 45 per cent, electrical goods.
The survey showed that only one in 10 people recycled nothing compared with three in 10 in 2003.
The most active recyclers were female, aged from 25 to 34, living in an urban environment from Munster with children under five.
The worst recyclers and 25 per cent lower than the national average (58 per cent versus 43 per cent) were male, aged from 15 to 24, from a rural background.
A total of 84 per cent of people were aware of their local bring bank facility, up from 60 per cent in 2002. The research was undertaken among a nationally representative sample of 1,000 adults.