Big increase in newspaper recycling

IRELAND HAS dramatically increased its newspaper recycling, according to figures audited by international environmental consultants RPS.

The figures show 73.8 per cent of all Irish newsprint was recycled last year - up from about 28 per cent in 2002. This represents a jump of 45 per cent in five years, according to RPS.

In volume terms, some 161,000 tonnes of Irish newsprint are now recycled each year.

The increase was welcomed by National Newspapers of Ireland (NNI) - the body which represents the State's major newspaper publishers.

The NNI said improved practices by publishers, wholesalers, retailers and recyclers - as well as newspaper readers - had made a difference which was already showing a further increase of some 16.5 per cent in the past 12 months alone.

"These figures represent a genuine environmental success story," said Maeve Donovan, chairwoman of NNI. "The Irish newspaper industry has worked very hard over the past five years to improve the supply chain so that as much paper as possible gets recycled. We have also invested heavily to promote a culture of paper recycling among consumers, and both of these initiatives are clearly working very well." Ms Donovan is managing director of The Irish Times Ltd.

NNI's environment officer, Enda Buckley, said: "In the past year we have implemented a new policy of 'whole copy' returns to maximise the number of unsold newspapers that get recycled.

"Our target for March 2008 was to collect 50 per cent of all unsold newspapers and thanks largely to the co-operation of wholesalers and retailers, we have exceeded that target by more than 26 per cent already," Mr Buckley said.

Ireland is one of the best countries in Europe for recycling newsprint, he added.