The Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment – ACE Ireland, has urged General Election candidates to drive investment in critical recycling and waste management infrastructure if elected. The representative body strongly argues this must be a core focus in the next Programme for Government if Ireland is serious about delivering on its circular economy ambitions.
In its manifesto shared with political parties, ACE Ireland has outlined its vision for increasing collection and recycling rates for all recyclable materials placed on the Irish market, including beverage cartons. ACE Ireland argues targeted investment in Ireland materials recovery facilities (MRFs) is key to delivering this to ensure recyclable materials collected at kerbside are correctly sorted for full onward recycling.
Other key asks include the need to:
- Increase public awareness of packaging materials that should be placed in the mixed dry recycling bin to increase overall collection and recycling rates.
- Collate and publish more detailed data on the collection and recycling of specific material formats to allow industry to monitor performance and adapt accordingly.
- Champion national recycling infrastructure that supports recyclable materials like beverage cartons to fully play their role in Ireland’s circular economy.
Commenting ACE Ireland Chief Executive, Mandy Kelly said: “Ireland has made significant strides in recent years in driving its circular economy ambitions, grounded through focused and targeted policy mechanisms. Disappointingly however, it appears that the circular economy and recycling have dropped down the priority list for all political parties in this election campaign.
“It’s imperative that the next Programme for Government ensures that all recyclables, including beverage cartons, placed on the Irish market can be fully recycled to allow resources to continue to circulate within the economy. As an association ACE Ireland is focused on improving recycling processes and increasing recycling rates of beverage cartons and we look forward to working collaboratively with members of the next Oireachtas to ensure policy support the same.
“Beverage cartons are a circular, renewable and recyclable food packaging solution. However, to maximise their potential in Ireland’s circular economy and to meet EU collection and recycling targets, a greater political focus needs to be placed on ensuring infrastructure and sorting targets are developed”, Ms Kelly concluded.
