Dublin to recycle PET bottles on the go

Dublin will install colourful bins to see people recycle PETs in the city centre.

Dublin City Council and its partners will be launching a new campaign to encourage people to recycle plastic bottles (PETs) and aluminium cans.

A total of 300 million PETs and 150 million cans go to waste each year in Ireland, not being recycled. The #CircleCity Campaign, which will take over the city centre from March 31, is believed to reverse the trend. The project will promote an on-street recycling through the installation of colourful and eye-catching bins.

The initiative is being delivered in cooperation with environmental charity Hubbub supported by The Coca-Cola Foundation. Other organisations, namely Big Belly, Voice Ireland, the RPS Group and Dublin Town, will get involved in the campaign by delivering activities and providing information related to recycling on the first day of the project.

Recycling targets exceeded

Ireland is one of the countries that has already gone beyond the EU recycling targets as regards PETs and cans. The country recycles 73% of all cans and 70% of plastic bottles every year.

“The City Council provides a wide range of recycling infrastructure throughout the city resulting in almost 17,000 tonnes of material being recycled each year,” Dublin Mayor Tom Brabazon said.

Although the city recycles huge amounts of waste, people have lacked a possibility to be able to recycle on the go, he added. Mr Brabazon also hopes the project will change people’s attitudes towards recycling also in public space.

The initiative changed Edinburgh and Leeds

Dublin is not the first city that will launch the recycling project focused on PETs and cans, although it is to be the first Irish city introducing the initiative to people in the country.

Hubbub got a very similar campaign, but under the name #LeedsByExample, going in England. The charity said a recycling figure has tripled in Leeds since the project began. Edinburgh and Swansea have also introduced eye-catching bins to improve on-the-go recycling.

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“We’ve seen the impact a campaign of this nature can have on changing public behaviour and we hope we’re able to make a real impact through the campaign to save valuable materials by providing a viable recycling option,” Hubbub Director Gavin Ellis claimed.

The charity will reveal bin locations in Dublin and their design prior to the campaign launch day.