"Ireland meets 2013 recycling target". Rubbish!

The Environmental Protection Agency released the National Waste Report for 2005 on January 11. A percentage of this kind of stuff went to a percentage of these places … blah, blah, blah … until it all added up to 100. I hate percentages. Well, not all. Just 74% of them.

Apparently it was all good news and the message was driven home by colourful government sponsored newspaper ads the following week telling us that our glorious government had reached our glorious government’s 2013 recycling target a glorious 8 years ahead of schedule. Mao would have been proud.

35% of our waste was recycled boasted the ad. But hold on. The EPA report actually said 35% of municipal waste. Only 23% of household waste (the smelly stuff) was recycled. Look at it the other way - 77% of household rubbish went to landfill sites.

Keep holding on. Why was the target 35%? Why not 90, or 100%? Set low enough, any target is achievable.

Many countries, such as New Zealand, have a target of 0% waste being incinerated or going to landfill. While it may not be possible in the real world, it is a worthy goal.

Much of what Irish householders send for recycling is actually unable to be processed. Like any industrial process, recycling costs money. If the expense involved is greater than the return then it’s just not done. A plastic or TetraPak milk container that is not thoroughly washed and the cap removed will likely be diverted to landfill. Unwashed = organic waste. Still capped = two types of plastic or plastic plus cardboard. The machines cannot separate them and it simply does not pay to have an operator do it.

How many of us know this? The booklet from my local authority said caps and wrappers on containers were to be removed. But not why they had to be. Explain the reasons for doing something and people will comply more readily. Oh, and the booklet wasn’t recycling-friendly either bacuase of the staples.

Furthermore, that vast majority of what is recyclable goes abroad for processing thereby depriving our economy of the benefits.

Our glorious government has little to boast about. If I reached a ridiculously low target for something and failed miserably to tackle the real problem, I would not be placing ads in the papers drawing attention to my shortcomings. I’d keep my mouth shut and my head down … 100% and 100% of the time respectively.