Ireland is number 1 producer of plastic waste in Europe.

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo · 23-03-2018 09:10PM #1

Ireland is the top producer of plastic waste in the European Union, according to the latest Eurostat figures.

China will no longer take our plastic. So we either have to burn it all, or start letting it pile up around us.
Maybe we could cordon off the county of Louth and just use it as the country's landfill to dump our rubbish in from now on? It would be the least missed county I'm sure.

Either way, this isn't good, and we really should do more as a country. Being top of the table of something like this is not something we can be proud of.

What can we do?

McMurphy · 23-03-2018 09:14PM

Gives a new meaning to the term 'Plastic Paddys' .

gandalf · 23-03-2018 09:15PM

We could recycle our own bloody waste rather than export it.

Arghus · 23-03-2018 09:16PM

As long as we beat the English at something.

cantdecide · 23-03-2018 09:18PM

I've been chucking mine into the sea. Seems to be the done thing these days.

Don't you just wish that Ireland could be a leading nation for environmental innovation? Now would be a good time.

23-03-2018 09:20PM

You'll never beat the irish!

Seriously though a plastic bottle deposit charge would be a nice easy, proven place to start

23-03-2018 09:20PM

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo wrote: »

Ireland is the top producer of plastic waste in the European Union, according to the latest Eurostat figures.

China will no longer take our plastic. So we either have to burn it all, or start letting it piling up around us.
Maybe we could cordon off the county of Louth and just use it as the country's landfill to dump our rubbish in from now on? It would be the least missed county I'm sure.

Either way, this isn't good, and we really should do more as a country. Being top of the table of something like this is not something we can be proud of.

What can we do?

I recently discovered Barry's teabags aren't 100% biodegradable. They get sprayed in polypropylene to hold the bag together. I drink on average 3 cups of tea a day, so at the end of the year Ive left behind me nearly 1000 bits of plastic once the tea and bag have broken down. I found the thought a bit shocking to be honest. There's a campaign to get them to change it here. As a Barry's fan it pains me to say this, Lyons are 100% compostable.

To be honest, we really need to change our habits and supermarkets need to change theirs. Wrapping vegetables in plastic is such a waste of plastic and if you don't take most vegetables out once you get home they go off very quickly.

patmac · 23-03-2018 09:21PM

Well it’s per head of population and we produce more food for supermarkets than any other country (per head of population), and the food industry demands a high proportion of packaging for its products, especially here, so no surprise really.

gimli2112 · 23-03-2018 09:22PM

Ah here it's only per individual, we're really going to have to knuckle down if we want to win the per country title

lisasimpson · 23-03-2018 09:25PM

We bought in a plastic bag charge it should have been the start of a change but we never capitalised on it.
A few small steps we could start with..in the fruit and veg section could we have paper bags instead of plastic when getting loose fruit and veg..also coffee shops and he amount of disposable coffee cups use..encourage people to bring their own reusuable travel cups.

Your Face · 23-03-2018 09:29PM

Does this mean we create more plastic waste or that we put more plastic forward for recycling?

spurious · 23-03-2018 09:30PM

riffmongous wrote:

Seriously though a plastic bottle deposit charge would be a nice easy, proven place to start

In Germany recently and there was not a plastic bottle to be seen. I think redemption gave 20c per bottle, possibly even 25c. The homeless guys were cleaning up - literally.

buried · 23-03-2018 09:30PM

I have to buy bottled water daily in those plastic containers from the shops because the water where I am is no longer trustworthy to drink. I hate doing it because I know I'm just adding to the plastic mess but I have to do it. I don't truss my supply in the taps. I ain't catchin clytospiridian again or whatever the f**k it was or still might be there. What I don't understand is, why can't I just keep two containers that I own, go to the shop, fill my containers to the volume or weight that I want from a larger container in the store and pay for that? That could be done with a whole heap of packaged foods and drink, from liquids to cereals. That's what should be done to help stop this plastic packaging problem.

Harry Palmr · 23-03-2018 09:34PM

Stop carrying coffee cups, or rather buy and carry a reusable one. Ditto bottled water, one of the great con jobs. Buy proper razors, if there is a choice of products buy whichever has the least plastic surrounding it. Make meals, don't buy them out of the frozen section.

whisky_galore · 23-03-2018 10:00PM

We're lazy and obsessed with pointlessly packaged things for 'convenience'.

milehip · 23-03-2018 10:03PM

We're number 1
We're number 1
We're number 1

Inn your face Luxembourg!!

SEPT 23 1989 · 23-03-2018 10:09PM

i burn mine out back in a barrel so no waste in this house

Cee-Jay-Cee · 23-03-2018 10:16PM

Manufacturers need to start plain wrapping products. It’s ridiculous the amount of packaging used on electrical products etc with very little need for any of it. The same goes for many foods. Once manufacturers cut down on the amount of wrapping etc then we can concentrate on getting people to recycle.

SEPT 23 1989 · 23-03-2018 10:26PM

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

Manufacturers need to start plain wrapping products. It’s ridiculous the amount of packaging used on electrical products etc with very little need for any of it. The same goes for many foods. Once manufacturers cut down on the amount of wrapping etc then we can concentrate on getting people to recycle.

I like to get my new TV in one piece not many

dxhound2005 · 23-03-2018 10:31PM

There wouldn't be a word about it except for Blue Planet. It used to be the ozone hole which was supposed to spell the end of the world. Not a dickie bird about it these days.

shane6977 · 23-03-2018 10:35PM

buried wrote: »

What I don't understand is, why can't I just keep two containers that I own, go to the shop, fill my containers to the volume or weight that I want from a larger container in the store and pay for that? That could be done with a whole heap of packaged foods and drink, from liquids to cereals. That's what should be done to help stop this plastic packaging problem.

My wife and I had the exact same idea some time back. It makes perfect sense and would give a huge reduction in packaging. Costs would go down too as manufacturers would not need to pay to produce individual packages.

jimmycrackcorm · 23-03-2018 10:36PM

The Swedes are the guys to follow when it comes to implementing waste recycling: 99% of all household waste is recycled.

You just have to keep replaying ABBA songs.

dxhound2005 · 23-03-2018 10:38PM

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

The Swedes are the guys to follow when it comes to implementing waste recycling: 99% of all household waste is recycled.

You just have to keep replaying ABBA songs.

50% of the waste is burned. That would not be allowed here.

Poochie05 · 23-03-2018 10:46PM

dxhound2005 wrote: »

There wouldn't be a word about it except for Blue Planet. It used to be the ozone hole which was supposed to spell the end of the world. Not a dickie bird about it these days.

That's because we did something about it.
The ozone layer is expected to be fully recovered by 2050 thanks to the Montreal Protocol, considered to be one of the most successful global agreements on environmental issues although there is still some work to be done: https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/09/montreal-protocol-ozone-treaty-30-climate-change-hcfs-hfcs/

Harry Palmr · 23-03-2018 10:47PM

dxhound2005 wrote: »

There wouldn't be a word about it except for Blue Planet. It used to be the ozone hole which was supposed to spell the end of the world. Not a dickie bird about it these days.

Ever wonder why? Edit, beaten to it!