Teresa McColgan

Repak

As an environmental not-for-profit organisation, with a social mission, Our purpose, on behalf of our Members, is to lead the recycling and sustainability of Ireland's packaging waste, advocate for a new circular economy, and educate businesses and consumers on reducing and recycling packaging. Repak was set up in 1997 to help businesses meet their obligations to recycle the packaging they place on the Irish market. We have over 3,400 members, whose fees fund household recycling bins, bottle banks, civic amenities and business back-door waste nationwide. At Repak, we are passionate about protecting the environment and reducing the environmental impact of packaging waste, while delivering Ireland's recycling targets for the five main materials. We run initiatives and campaigns to help our members improve the sustainability of their packaging and to encourage consumers to reduce, reuse and recycle better. Over the past 20 years, Repak has grown from a ‘compliance scheme' to a leading environmental organisation that has helped transform the recycling landscape in Ireland, providing credible knowledge and expertise to many stakeholders on packaging waste, while supporting our Members. For many years, we have challenged our Members to increase the sustainability of their packaging through our Prevent & Save Programme. Our ‘Plastic Packaging Recycling Strategy 2018 – 2030' set out the actions required to achieve challenging new EU recycling targets. In 2018, we also launched the ‘Repak Members' Plastic Pledge', which currently has over 100 of Ireland's largest producers signed up, pledging to five key objectives aimed at reducing plastic packaging and making packaging more recyclable, while minimising food waste.