This should come as exciting news if you’re the person in your household who has your heart broken sorting through the recycling bin and passive-aggressively removing everyone else’s wrongly binned waste.
As of today, all plastic packaging waste including soft plastic can now be put in the recycling bin as long as it’s clean, dry and loose. The news was shared earlier this morning on the My Waste Ireland social media pages.
All plastic packaging waste including soft plastic can now be placed in Irish household recycling bins as long as it is clean, dry and loose.
Making the announcement, Minister of State Ossian Smyth TD said soft plastic can be placed in the household recycling bin #recycle pic.twitter.com/eOs1ZqxCI7— My Waste Ireland (@MyWasteIreland) September 6, 2021
If recycling isn’t your forte, soft plastic are “the plastics you can scrunch up in your hand.. Think of like a pasta bag or the film that comes on a bouquet of flowers”, according to Roz Purcell who makes an appearance in the video launch of the news. Basically, if you buy a pack of apples or what have you, you can now recycle both the hard plastic tray they come in and the soft plastic wrapping.
It’s good news as it seems to be a common misconception that you can already recycle soft plastic – at least, it is in my household anyway (I’m the person who spends by evenings routing through and reorganising the green bin). While it’s a thrilling way to spend my free time, I’m definitely happy to hear about this change.
The update in how we recycle in Ireland comes following “an investment of over €10 million over the last number of years” and a huge improvement to recycling technology, according to Pauline McDonogh of mywaste.ie.
Header image via Shutterstock
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