Householders have been urged to recycle as much Christmas waste as possible now that the last day of the festive season has passed.
If people do not recycle their Christmas waste, more than 190 million recyclable containers of waste will be dumped in landfill, Repak warned yesterday.
The recycling body and local authorities have set up a network of 77 Green Christmas recycling centres around the State.
Repak estimated that Irish householders consumed 20 million bottles of wine, 106 million plastic bottles of drinks and 64 million cans of drinks in the Christmas/New Year period. They also used about four million rolls of wrapping paper.
The 77 Green Christmas centres accept a wider range of materials than normal and are open for longer hours in the coming days. Most sites accept cardboard, paper, glass, plastic and cans.
The Christmas recycling initiative aims to have recycled 6,000 tonnes of drinks cans, wine bottles, plastic bottles, cardboard and wrapping paper by mid-January. This is on top of the material donated to 2,000 bring banks.
Some householders complained that the bring banks were full when they tried to deposit bottles and cans during the Christmas period.
A Repak spokesman said this was proof that the recycling message was getting through. He said Repak was not responsible for servicing the bring banks as this was the job of local authorities and contractors.
Repak is not responsible for recycling Christmas trees but the vast majority of local authorities have facilities for taking back these trees. Details of opening times are available from each authority and the local press.
Mr Andrew Hetherington, Repak chief executive, called on householders to separate and recycle all their bottles, cans, cards, wrapping paper and cardboard. "By visiting the special designated Green Christmas recycling centres, householders can get rid of a large amount of Christmas waste that is clogging up their homes and also rest assured that it is being recycled rather than dumped in already overloaded landfill."
Details and opening times at the Green Christmas centres are available at www.repak.ie
