Recycling Savvy & Resourceful: 67% Rate Knowledge High, 60% Reuse Packaging For Gardening
3 in 5 people are reusing packaging for gardening purposes, such as seed-starting, watering, or plant labels. That’s according to new research* from Repak, Ireland’s environmental not-for-profit organisation, carried out ahead of the launch of its Most Sorted Garden at Bord Bia Bloom this June Bank Holiday weekend.
The our latest research highlights a growing national passion for upcycling and growing confidence among the irish public when it comes to recycling, with 67% of Irish Adults rate their recycling knowledge highly. However, the research also found that gaps remain around how to recycle some common household items. Less than half can correctly identify which bins tinfoil (44%), cosmetic jars (45%) and deodorant cans (50%) should go in, while 71% don’t know how to recycle bleach bottles correctly.
To help close these gaps, our Most Sorted Garden at Bloom will welcome thousands of visitors with hands-on tips and practical inspiration for better recycling habits at home and in the garden. Across the five-day event, visitors can enjoy a range of engaging and educational experiences around the dos and don’ts of recycling including panel discussions and child-friendly workshops.
The impact of small changes really adds up. If each of the 100,000 expected visitors to Bloom recycled just one more clean, dry, and loose item every day, it could divert an extra 36.5 million items from landfill annually – enough to cover 28 GAA pitches. Nationally, if every person in Ireland recycled just one more item a day, it could keep over 1.9 billion items out of landfill each year – equivalent to 48,362 tonnes of waste, or the weight of 4,000 double-decker buses, or even eight fully packed Croke Parks.
Zoe Kavanagh, CEO of Repak said: “Irish people clearly care about sustainability and it’s brilliant to see how many are upcycling packaging in creative ways. However, creativity in the garden needs to be matched with clarity at the bin. By tapping into the public’s enthusiasm for upcycling, we want to inspire a national recycling reset. By recycling one more item daily we can make a huge difference and achieve our EU recycling targets.
“If every visitor to Bloom correctly recycled just one more item a day, together we could divert over 36.5 million items from landfill every year, and for context, this is the equivalent of 28 GAA pitches! Repak’s Most Sorted Garden is more than just a display—it’s a movement. Every element exists within a closed-loop system, where materials are repurposed, resources are regenerated, and nothing goes to waste. We’re calling on people to make this small change — please recycle just one more item each day. It starts at Bloom, but the impact can stretch across the nation.”
What’s Happening in The Most Sorted Garden at Bloom
Designed by award-winning garden designer James Purdy, Repak’s Most Sorted Garden is a living, breathing showcase of the circular economy in action, to help visitors understand how to recycle better at home. Across the five-day event visitors will be able to enjoy a range of engaging and educational experiences including panel discussions, cooking demos and child-friendly workshops.
Visitors can take part in a variety of engaging and educational experiences throughout the five-day event. Click here to see a full list of our activations at Bloom!