Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 6 December 2011
228 Deputy Paul J. Connaughton asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if triple rinsing of containers prior to recycling is necessary; if there are any estimates on the amount of water lost in the process in view of the current volume of household recycling of plastic and cardboard containers; his plans to change the recommendation to single or double rinsing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38401/11]
View answerIn line with the objectives of the National Hazardous Waste Management Plan 2008-2012 and certain requirements of the Waste Framework Directive (Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council dated 19 November 2008), measures to promote high quality recycling, such as the separate collection of waste where technically, environmentally and economically practicable, are to be welcomed. In this regard, both the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and my Department are satisfied that certain farm plastics such as high density polyethylene (HDPE) chemical containers (used pesticide containers) can, where collected in a manner similar to the current farm plastics scheme and subject to certain conditions, be collected for recycling. These conditions are set out in my Department's circular letter No. WP16.10 of 19 May 2010 entitled National Hazardous Waste Management Plan — collection of other farm plastics, which is available on my Department's website at www.environ.ie. One of the conditions is that the containers concerned should be triple rinsed before collection. Triple rinsing, where conducted effectively, should reduce the hazard associated with the containers (particularly where the original cap is refitted) to enable the material to be handled safely (while not necessarily rendering it non-hazardous). The circular letter does not refer to such containers in the context of household waste as no similar collection scheme exists in that sector.
Data on the level of water used in the rinsing process are not available but in view of the relatively small tonnage of such waste collected — less than 10 tonnes in 2010 — the amount of water involved is not considered to be significant.
