Repak’s sixth annual Plastic Pledge Report found its Plastic Pledge Signatories (Ireland) achieved an average recycling rate of 72% in 2023. It is above the EU Circular Economy Package recycling targets of 50% by 2025 and 55% by 2030. ​

The submissions also showed that Signatories achieved an average recycled content of 43% across various projects, with some products attaining 100% recycled plastic content.

​ 151 Repak Members are Signatories of the Plastic Pledge, including Aldi, Lidl, Nestle and The Culinary Food Group. ​

In this year’s report, Repak highlights four “Change Makers” from its membership, these include: ​

To Prevent – Lidl moved from a hinged, rigid plastic lid to a lighter film on their pasta pots, which reduced weight by 50% and saved 16.5 tonnes.​

To Support – The Culinary Food Group diverted six tonnes of plastic box liners from general waste. To Simplify – Aldi became the first major retailer to introduce a fully recyclable handwash pump to save 30 tonnes of packaging per year.​ To Increase – Nestlé redesigned its two-finger KitKat wrapper to include 80% recycled plastic.

The Repak Plastic Pledge objectives are to prioritise the prevention of plastic packaging waste, support Ireland in delivering the EU’s plastic recycling targets, reduce complexity within the plastic packaging supply chain by simplifying polymer usage and eliminating non-recyclable components by 2030, and increase the use of plastic packaging with recycled content.

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