The figures revealed Longford – a county of around 34,000 people- topped the table with a rate of 58%. County Carlow, where around 50,000 people live and County Mayo, where 124,000 people live, had rates of 6.5% and 6.7% respectively.
The capital, Dublin, run by Dublin City Council has a population of 506,000 and a recycling rate of 13%. Cork City – population 120,000 – has a rate of 23%, while Waterford City – population 46,000 – hit 48%.
Improvements
Mr Gormley called for “an improved performance for those counties with low recycling rates” and added “local government plays a very important role in our everyday lives so it is essential that services are delivered to the highest standard possible”.
He continued: “Progress made by local authorities in recent years is evident by the information contained within the Service Indicator Report. Nonetheless, local authorities must strive to do better to improve services to the public.”
The figures detailed in the report published by the Local Government Management Services Board, which provides support and advice to local authorities, does not include material recycled through bring banks and civic amenity sites.
Any material not recycled was sent to landfill meaning Carlow and Mayo were sending around 93% of waste collected at kerbside to landfill.
The figures show that recycling rates have increased in the Republic of Ireland since 2004. The median average rose from 16.75 in 2004 to 20.2 in 2005 and 21.69 in 2006.
Longford
Gary Brady, environmental awareness officer at top performing council Longford, told letsrecycle.com that a range of measures are in place to boost and maintain its record.
Waste collection services were privatised in the county about 10 years ago and now two contractors operate there, meaning residents have a choice on which type of collection they use.
Both firms offer alternate weekly collections of residual waste and recyclables. The recycling scheme is free and residents pay for black bag waste
The first company, Mulleady Waste Management, operates a pay-by-weight scheme. Residents buy disposal credits in advance and a microchip on each bin reads how much waste is thrown away.
The second system run by Green Energy, operates a tag system – where householders buy tags from a shop to place on the bin as a signal they are ready to be emptied.
The range of kerbside materials collected by the companies include cartons, plastics bottles and film, paper and cardboard. Glass must be taken to bring-banks in recycling centres at any of 25 different locations across the county. This costs the householder 20 cents per kilo.
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