What exactly is in our bins? A new survey hopes to find out
Are you sick of the amount of plastic and packaging coming into your home?
Milk cartons, cereal boxes, food packaging, junk mail, takeaway boxes – it can feel like we are locked in a cycle of creating a never-ending stream of rubbish. A new survey is looking for your help in stopping the flow.
A national recycling bin survey, running for the next two weeks, aims to find out what exactly is in our bins and who else must shoulder responsibility for it.
'For too long, the blame for waste reduction has been on consumer behaviour, but maybe we need to look further upstream,' says environmental charity Voice Ireland, which is running the survey.
READ MORE
Plastic made up 50 per cent of the average Irish recycling bin, according to the same survey carried out in 2023. Doing a deep dive into their recycling bins, participating householders in Ireland catalogued more than 10,000 individual items.
Supermarkets were responsible for two-thirds of all packaging waste, according to the citizen research group.
'This means the problem isn't just individual behaviour – it's what's being put on our shelves in the first place,' Voice Ireland concluded.
'The survey aims to flip the script and look at the source of packaging waste – retailers and producers – so we can push for changes that actually reduce waste at the design and distribution stages,' it says.
Beginning on June 15th, households are invited to collect two full weeks of data, ending on June 30th.
This entails counting and recording the packing in your household recycling bin, and noting where the items came from, for example the supermarket or takeaways.
[
Ireland's recycling rate has not improved for a decade, while waste continues to grow
Opens in new window
]
There are two ways to take part. Simply use your recycling bin as usual for the next two weeks, then you can either spill out your recycling the day before collection and take a user-friendly online survey on your phone to record the items in it. Alternatively, you can use the special 'tally as you go' sheet to record the items you are recycling in real time.
Collecting information like this is not just helping to shift all the blame from consumers, the data can also inform better policymaking.
Some things have changed since the last survey. The deposit return scheme means some plastic bottles and cans are being recycled differently.
The European Union Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) will require actual reductions in packaging, not just changes in how we recycle it. By 2030, certain types of single-use plastic packaging – such as those for unprocessed fruit and vegetables – will be banned.
These changes are a step in the right direction – but without independent, citizen-led data, it's hard to measure their real impact or make the case for going further, says Voice Ireland.
Even though in Ireland we're recycling more than ever by weight, our overall recycling rate isn't improving – because our packaging consumption is growing 2½ times faster. That's why it's so important to track what's really happening on the ground, the charity says.
Participating in this survey over the next two weeks is a small commitment, but it can have a big impact.
People who are willing to look in their bins are helping to ask tough questions and build pressure for real change.
Oh, and those who complete the survey will be in with a chance to win one of five €100 One4All gift vouchers.
You can sign up at
VoiceIreland.org
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Irish Sun
3 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Major recall issued for popular kid's toy sold on TEMU as Irish parents urged to ‘keep out reach of children'
AN URGENT warning has been issued for Irish parents over a popular toy that poses a choking risk. TEMU is carrying out a Advertisement 2 The Bear Plush Adorable Soft Toy poses a choking hazard Credit: CCPC The issued the recalls for the popular toy after discovering the product presents a choking hazard. It was discovered that the seams can come apart, which helps to prevent the fibrous stuffing material from falling out. With the risk of fibrous stuffing material being accessible, it can be ingested by a small child, which poses a choking hazard. The model number is BKFPT – 6712422072. The bar code is 7131914370. The Goods ID is 601099632805466. Advertisement READ MORE ON PRODUCT RECALLS And all batches are affected. There are around 73 affected products in the Parents are urged to discontinue use immediately and keep it out of the reach of Advertisement Most read in The Irish Sun Reimbursements have been issued to those impacted. For those who have not received a refund or have further questions or concerns about this product, they are urged to contact Temu's Dedicated Customer Service team on their website. 'Contaminated' cupboard staple recalled over 'life-threatening fungi' hidden inside – children are especially at risk Earlier this month, The Advertisement The chiefs discovered that the product does not have a mechanism to prevent it from becoming over-pressurised. An over-pressurised container has a risk of shattering, potentially leading to injuries such as cuts. The batch numbers are 178095 and 178100. The barcode is 5052089331761. There are approximately 91 affected products in the Advertisement Parents are urged to discontinue use immediately and keep it out of the reach of And they can return the affected product to any of The Works stores for a full refund. Those who want further information regarding this recall are encouraged to contact them at enquiries@ or call 00 44 1 21 313 6050. 2 TEMU has urged parents to keep it out of reach of children Credit: Getty Images - Getty Advertisement
Irish Examiner
5 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Garden Q&A: Should I be feeding my plants regularly?
Question Should I still be feeding my plants regularly, and if so, with what? Answer Mature trees and shrubs growing in open ground shouldn't need any feeding, just keep enriching the soil with organic matter. However, you should still be feeding newer specimens and especially plants in pots and containers at this time of year. They're in full growth mode, using up nutrients fast. I use the Irish-made Fast Grow as a reliable, all-purpose feed. It's basically a mixture of chicken manure and seaweed in a pellet form and feeds slowly over time, so you don't need to constantly reapply. Just scatter it around your plants and water it in. Whether you're growing flowers, fruit, or veg, use it to give them a boost to stay healthy and productive through summer. If your plants are looking tired, pale, or just not performing, chances are they're hungry. A feed now can make all the difference in how they grow and flower over the next few weeks.
Irish Times
8 hours ago
- Irish Times
Wills and spouses: Why you cannot just cut a wife out of your will
An acquaintance left all his assets, mainly his house which is probably worth about €250,000, to a distant relative. He had been on bad terms with his wife of about 50 years and left her nothing. They had no children and were not legally separated or divorced. Their only income was the contributory old-age pension. Now the relative has told the widow that he wants to take possession of the house to sell it and pay capital acquisitions tax. He has helpfully suggested that she should enter a care home. I know that, by law, the lady is entitled to two-thirds of the value of the house, irrespective of the will but, assuming that the facts are as I've given them: can the will even go to probate? Can the widow continue to live in the house indefinitely given her contribution to the marriage or for some other reason? READ MORE Did the solicitor who drew up the will have an ethical or legal obligation to ask if the man was married? When I made a will recently, the solicitor didn't ask me if I was married. Mr DF Well, this is a bit of a mess, isn't it? There's being on bad terms with a spouse, and then there's trying to cut her out of a will entirely after 50 years of marriage. It must have been some row. The approach of the distant relative to whom the house has been left in the will is also sadly lacking in empathy. What a wonderful pair. There's nothing like a will to show up the worst side of people. More to the point, this will is unsustainable. You simply cannot disinherit a spouse entirely – at least not unless they have been convicted of killing you, trying to kill you or trying to cause you serious harm. If you die without a will, your spouse will automatically inherit your entire estate where there are no children and two-thirds of the estate (by value) where there are children. And in a case like this, where there is a will, a spouse is entitled to what is called a legal right share. That lays down that the spouse is automatically entitled to one-half of the entire estate in a situation like your acquaintance's wife where there are no children. If there had been children, the legal right share would be one-third of the estate. This entitlement ranks ahead of any other beneficiary, regardless of what the will says. Only creditors rank higher – ie, debts left outstanding by the deceased. If she was deliberately left in the dark, I would expect any court to back her right So whatever this distant relative thinks, in an estate where the sole or main asset is the family home, the relative has no absolute right to it until the wife has her share. And the onus is not on the spouse to claim this. It is the legal responsibility of the executor to the estate to notify the spouse that she has the right to half of the estate (in this example), regardless of what the will says. Having said that, they do need to claim the right within six months of being informed by the executor, or one year of the grant of representation (probate) being issued. If she was deliberately left in the dark, I would expect any court to back her right. If they had been legally separated, provision would likely have been made one way or the other in the formal separation for the handling of the legal right share. That's common enough. Divorce would have extinguished it. But neither is the case here. It is also possible for someone to renounce a legal right share but, again, that is a formal scenario and there would be a written record. And if the spouse argues that they were pressured into so doing, or simply did not understand what they were doing, they would be in a strong position to challenge such a renunciation in court. So the idea that a distant relative can wander in and tell her 'Sorry love, I want you out to sell the house. Maybe you can head on to a nursing home' is quite simply deluded. They have no such right. And even in a case like this, where it appears the wife's name is not on the deeds of the property and her legal right share will not be sufficient to secure ownership of the house in its entirety, she is not without options. The first course of action would be to pay the difference between the value of her right share and the balance of the market value of the house. In your scenario, where it appears she would not have the financial resources to do so, she could make a case to a court on hardship grounds. The court can rule in those circumstance that the money does not have to be paid, although it is not obliged to do so. Whatever this distant relative thinks, in an estate where the sole or main asset is the family home, the relative has no absolute right to it until the wife has her share Has the solicitor drawing up the will on behalf of his client the moral or legal duty to inquire whether there is a spouse, and then to notify the client of the legal right share provision? No, not a legal or moral duty, but they certainly have a commonsense one. I cannot imagine a solicitor advising a mature client on their will where no mention is made of a spouse not at least querying whether there are any close family, given they would certainly be aware of the legal right share provision. After all, failure to do so and to make provision is only storing up trouble for the executor, who may well be the same solicitor, when they have to manage probate and the distribution of the estate. Please send your queries to Dominic Coyle, Q&A, The Irish Times, 24-28 Tara Street Dublin 2, or by email to with a contact phone number. This column is a reader service and is not intended to replace professional advice
