Repak: Courts for eco-crimes needed

Special courts to tackle environmental offenders should be established in Ireland, according to packaging recycling firm Repak.


The organisation called for dedicated courts for environmental affairs to be set up in the mould of Commercial Courts.

According to Repak, 46 companies in the past 11 years have been prosecuted for failure to comply with demands to recycle its products rather than send them to landfill.

Of those cases, according to Repak, the highest fine handed out was €15,000.

Now it wants a “clear signal” to be sent to companies that the government is serious about enforcing environmental legislation, according to the Independent.

Earlier this month Repak launched Recycling Week, which kicked off with the unveiling of a series of sculptures made from recycling.

The organisation has called to increase the amount of waste recycled by 100,000 tonnes to 750,000 tonnes.

Andrew Hetherington, Repak chief executive officer, said: “Irish consumers have to be commended for the achievements to date. They have recycled over 3.6 million tonnes of packaging waste in the last 11 years which is the equivalent of 2.8 million tonnes of carbon emissions savings, making it one of the top six EU member states for packaging recycling.

“However, this year we are asking people to recycle more and to check every item of packaging in the house and consider whether it can be placed in their household recycling bins or brought to a recycling centre”

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