Chocs away! IRELAND TO MUNCH ON TONNES OF EASTER EGGS.

Byline: MICHELLE O'KEEFFE

SWEET-toothed Irish people will gorge themselves on 1,000 tonnes of chocolate over Easter.

The monster feast with cost us EUR34million as we scoff 6.8 million Easter eggs.

That's 5.5 billion calories - which would take almost two million marathons to burn off.

And despite pubs being shut yesterday for Good Friday we still manage to guzzle 61 million litres of booze and minerals as we crack open 42 million cans of beverages and nine million bottles of wine at house parties.

An extra 42,000 tonnes of used waste from cards, drinks and packaging is expected to be generated over the long weekend.

Recycling giant Repak has urged people to be environmentally-friendly when it comes to clearing up packaging and bottles after the Easter period.

Spokesman Darrell Crowe said: "Last year we recycled 16,500 tonnes, or approximately 40 per cent, of all household used packaging.

"This year we are aiming to collect nearly 19,000 tonnes - or about 12kg - per household. This is approximately 45 per cent of all packaging." He added this would result in the equivalent of 23,000 tonnes of carbon saved, the same as removing 12,500 cars from the road.

Mr Crowe added: "This year Easter egg manufacturers Cadburys, Mars and Nestle have reduced their packaging by on average 25 to 30 per cent and increased the recyclability of packaging.

"As well as using recycled material in their packaging, they've added extra information on recycling and reduced the amount of packaging used.

"We are now asking Irish householders to help us over the final hurdle and put as much of the packaging as possible through their recycling bins, bring banks and by visiting their recycling centres."

The packaging from Easter eggs results in 188,000kg of aluminium foil packaging which is the same as more than 1.3 million regular drinks cans and 395,000kg of card or paper packaging waste, which is the equivalent of what 6,715 trees would produce.

The Easter egg tradition began with painted egg shells but the modern variety is made from chocolate.

The first chocolate eggs were made in Europe in the early 19th century.

In 2006, the world's most expensive Easter egg was created by La Maison du Chocolat in London. The Diamond Stella Egg was 60cm tall and covered with 100 halfcarat diamonds. Its price tag was EUR76,000.

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