Published on Friday21stJune2019

Minister Bruton Introduces New Labelling to Make Recycling Easier

20190621 Bruton

The Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Richard Bruton T.D. has today (Friday 21st of June) launched a new labelling system, unique to Ireland, to make it easier for people to recycle.

The Climate Action Plan to tackle climate breakdown, which was published by Minister Bruton earlier this week, commits to working with industry to improve labelling to avoid confusion or ambiguity.

Proper segregation of waste is crucial. It minimizes the amount of waste ending up in landfill and helps us use our resources more effectively. The three new labels being launched today are voluntary for use by producers, manufacturers and retailers. The labels clearly identify whether an item is widely recycled, whether it is not recyclable, and whether more information should be sought before deciding how to dispose.

These new labels are being introduced at a time when two thirds of the plastic used by industry in packaging is non-recyclable in Ireland today. This is just one initiative being put forward to encourage enterprise to reduce their use of non-recyclable materials and use recycled, recyclable packaging.