Extra recycling options available thanks to Mayo shop
THE people of Mayo are being encouraged to recycle a variety of waste such as biscuit and cracker wrappers, baby food pouches and crisp packets for the first time, saving it from landfill and raising funds for The Edible Landscape Project at the same time.
Local Westport residents and owners of PAX Whole Foods & Eco Goods, McKinley Neal and Kirstin MacDonagh, have signed up to a number of free recycling programmes offered in Ireland by TerraCycle, the world leaders in the recycling of hard-to-recycle waste.
This has enabled them to set up a public drop-off location at PAX Whole Foods & Eco Goods, 9 Market Lane, Westport, where local people can drop off their biscuit and cracker wrappers, baby food pouches and crisp packets to be sent in for recycling.
None of this waste can be included in local kerbside recycling collections so traditionally has ended up in landfill or been incinerated.
McKinley, who set up the public drop-off location in Westport, explains: “We were looking for a way to help our community reduce the amount of waste packaging thrown in the bin, and we found these great free programmes run by TerraCycle to recycle a whole host of waste which the local recycling collections can’t accept.
“Anyone can sign up and collect waste at home for recycling. We decided to go one step further by setting up a public access drop-off location at PAX Whole Foods and Eco Goods, where the local community can drop off their waste biscuit wrappers, crisp packets and baby food pouches. Some people have set up collection boxes at their places of work or schools and bring us the waste every few months.”
PAX sends the waste collected by members of the community into TerraCycle, and it is then recycled by shredding, cleaning and turning it into a pellet format which can then be used by manufacturers to create new generic plastic products such as outdoor furniture, lumber and construction applications, removing the need to extract new resources from the planet.
As well as benefitting the environment, this programme also helps raise funds for the local Edible Landscape Project. They host educational events to help people understand the connection between food choices and climate change, and work with community groups to plan for, plant and maintain nut and fruit trees and edible plants to promote local food systems.
For each unit of waste collected, PAX receives TerraCycle points that can be redeemed as a monetary donation to the charity.
McKinley added: “So far the Westport community have helped us to send in more than 5,000 pieces of waste to TerraCycle for recycling, raising money for The Edible Landscape Project.
“This initiative is a great way to help both the environment and charity. So we encourage everyone in Westport to drop off their biscuit and cracker wrappers, baby food pouches and crisp packets for recycling at the PAX public drop-off location during opening hours and to help us spread awareness locally by telling their friends, families and colleagues.”