Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 25 January 2024
182. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the progress to date in reducing our collective dependency on plastic; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3684/24]
View answerThe Government’s Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy, published in 2020, includes a range of ambitious measures to reform and strengthen how we manage our waste. The Plan outlines a range of measures and actions to deal with plastic and packaging waste and single use plastics. Since then, further measures have been introduced through, for example:
• the Use Plastics Regulations in 2021,
• the Deposit Return Scheme Regulations 2021 which underpin the operation of the Deposit Return Scheme from 1 February,
• the Circular Economy Act 2022, which provides powers to introduce levies and bans on a range of single use items.
• mandatory segregation and incentivised charging for commercial waste from July 2023, which builds on the successful incentivised waste collection system for the household sector, and
• a new waste recovery levy and an increase to the existing landfill levy from 1st September 2023 to encourage people to reduce their waste collection costs by improving their waste segregation practices.
• In addition, Ireland's Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) model for packaging places legal obligations on packaging producers to recover and recycle the packaging they place on the Irish market. Repak, the national producer responsibility organisation, helps members meet these legal obligations through financial incentives and support measures.
