O'Rourke pledges Fianna Fáil's support for Midlands election poster recycling initiative
Athlone Fianna Fáil councillor Aengus O’Rourke said his party is fully committed to a new initiative in the Midlands for recycling candidates' posters in the aftermath of elections.
Cllr O’Rourke has worked closely with Ian Scouler, an Athlone resident and the managing director of materials firm Material Solutions (tMSG), to devise a pathway for the initiative.
Recently, on December 18, last the pair met at Enplast Extrusions in Longford where approximately 35 tonnes of posters could be viewed, from a total of around 47 tonnes that were returned for recycling after the local and general elections in 2024.
"In previous years, hundreds of tonnes of election posters were shipped to Holland and wasted in landfill," said Cllr O'Rourke.
"Now, by taking part in this initiative, we are ensuring that these plastic posters are recycled, given a new life and reused again, here in Ireland.
"All the political parties were encouraged to participate in this. I approached Fianna Fáil head office with this idea, and today Fianna Fáil is the main political party driving this initiative," he added.
"This is a fantastic initiative, and it again demonstrates Fianna Fáil is committed to the sustainability of the planet.
"The party has instructed its postering contractor to take down all posters and return them to Enplast in Longford where they will be ground down and prepared for a second life in the construction or signage industries. We have full traceability now on all our plastic posters.
"With hundreds of tonnes of these unwanted plastic posters now being handled by each of the political parties, the proper solution is to recycle them. To do anything else is irresponsible.
"I am calling on all other parties and local authorities to step up and buy in to this solution. Contractors taking down the posters should be able to either deliver them direct to Enplast in Longford or to their respective local authority, and in turn the local authority can transport them to Enplast.
"I want to sincerely thank Ian Scouler of Material Solutions (tMSG) for his vision and commitment in relation to this matter and indeed to Enplast who have also embraced this idea and have been very cooperative.
“Both companies are providing their expertise for free. This initiaive is free to the political parties," he concluded.
Mr Scouler said that while the initiative was off to a positive start, there was still a lot of work to be done.
"Less than 10% of all election posters came back for recycling, so we must improve on that," he said. "A good start was made, but let's do better next time and build on this foundation block."