Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 3 Jul 1991

Vol. 410 No. 3

Adjournment Debate. - Use of Recycled Paper.

Mr. Bryne:

As it is so late, my remarks will be brief. It is time that real leadership, particularly from Government Departments, was given to encourage the greater use of recycled paper. The token contribution by the Department of the Environment is insufficient.

Some time ago our timber was exported from the south to continental mills and sold at £1 per tonne. The export of our timber, coupled with a huge potential supply of our own waste paper, indicates that it would make environmental and economic sense to encourage more use of recycled paper. Indeed, I would go further than arguing in favour of encouraging more use of recycled paper; the Government should help to establish, possibly in a joint venture with local authorities like Dublin Corporation, Dublin County Council and private interests, to establish the plants to process more and more of our waste paper.

There is no reason for supermarkets and shops in general not using brown paper bags from recycled paper, thereby helping to get rid of the plastic bags which cause so many environmental problems in rivers, lakes, streams and mountains. The plastic bag does not rot and damages the environment. Telephone bills issued by Telecom Éireann and gas bills should be printed on recycled paper. Indeed, it could be extended to rates demands and income tax forms. Ballot papers, public notices, circulars and newspapers — particularly the "freebies"— should be printed on recycled paper.

It is estimated that it takes approximately 17 trees to make one tonne of paper. Of the one million tonnes of domestic and commercial waste disposed of each year by local authorities, nearly one quarter is paper. If paper was recycled it would obviously save on collection and disposal costs because of its bulk and would also reduce the requirement for extensive landfill sites, which are costly and becoming scarce. Recycling paper also saves energy; and I understand that there is assistance from the European Community for the management of waste, which should be availed of. Given the size of the annual production of Golden Pages alone, which have to be disposed of each year because they are out of date, their bulk capacity in relation to recycling has tremendous potential. It is estimated that Britain could save £400 million per year in imports if there was an increase in the use of recycled paper. They use about eight million tonnes of paper and board each year, which is the equivalent of felling one tree per person per annum.

I urge the Minister to ensure that a start is made in Government offices, including Dáil Éireann, to have the hundreds of tonnes of paper ending up in our litter bins collected specifically for recycling purpose. It is a sad fact that I had to make my few notes on paper which should have been recycled but which was not.

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment (Miss Harney):

I thank Deputy Byrne for raising this matter on the Adjournment. One of the fundamental principles of environment policy is, in the words of the Environment Title of the EC Treaties, "to ensure a prudent and rational utilisation of natural resources". I am very pleased to have this opportunity of speaking about the advantages of recycling. Deputy Byrne referred in particular to the advantages of using recycled paper but before addressing the paper issue specifically, I would like to speak about recycling more generally.

Changes in our economic and social structure, improved living standards, increased production, the use of non-durable goods, more and bulkier packaging and the advent of disposable products have led to a massive increase in the quantities and types of waste generated in recent years. Large volumes of this waste, particularly bottles, cans, plastics and paper have ended up as litter or on landfill sites. Previously, these materials were the focus of attention mainly for their nuisance value. Fortunately, we are now also seeing them for their resource potential. Recycling of the main recyclable materials, cans, glass, plastics and paper, saves energy and raw materials, saves valuable space in landfill sites and creates employment opportunities. In addition, recycling contributes to the promotion of a litter free environment.

Paper recycling does make sense! I will give some facts. It takes 17 trees to make one tonne of paper. Of the 1.1 million tonnes of domestic and commercial waste disposed of in Ireland each year by local authorities, nearly 25 per cent or 270,000 tonnes is paper. The recycling of paper would save on collection and disposal costs and reduce the requirements for expensive landfill sites. Recycling paper saves energy. These facts clearly illustrate the advantages to be gained by using recycled paper products. Paper has a long history of recycling but until recent years was used mainly in the manufacture of packaging paper and board. Advances in technology in the eighties enabled the production of recycled paper which is almost indistinguishable from that manufactured from virgin pulp.

Why then, one might ask, is the level of collection and subsequent recovery rate of paper and board here so relatively low in comparison with other European countries? There are a number of factors contributing to this including the population distribution and the lack of demand from industry for waste paper. Milling of waste paper currently requires large production volumes. Ireland's small population means that in many cases sufficient quantities of similar types of waste paper to make a mill feasible are not generated. This affects the logistics and the economics of waste paper collection.

The absence of convenient milled supplies of waste paper in Ireland also makes it difficult for Irish manufacturers to maximise market opportunities in high value-added products based on recycled paper. Despite these constraints several projects involved in waste paper collection have been assisted by my Department's recycling grants scheme. Unfortunately, some of these projects depend on the export market which because of over supply and resultant price cuts is having problems at present.

It is clear to me that improving the paper recycling rates in Ireland demands further processing capacity. The IDA have already established a working party with Smurfit Ireland Ltd., the main paper recyclers, to examine business opportunities for the further recycling of waste paper and cardboard. I am hopeful of a satisfactory outcome to this initiative.

I would like to see Government Departments and public and private companies using recycled paper to the greatest extent possible particularly because of the high quality products which is now available. My Department have now definitely switched to a policy of using recycled paper for all their needs. Local authorities have been urged to consider all possibilities for promoting or assisting recycling and some, in fact, now use recycled paper. My Department will continue to support and encourage this practice in tandem with their efforts to support recycling generally. I am happy to say that considerable progress has been made in this area in the last couple of years and I will use this opportunity to summarise briefly what has been happening.

The Environment Action Programme launched early last year established a number of initiatives in this regard. It lead to the preparation of recycling schemes by local authorities, provision of grants for recycling activities, feasibility studies into the possibility of establishing new industries based on recycled products and a study of how the tax system might be adapted to encourage waste recycling on a commercial basis.

I list those to show what central Government are doing to push the recycling drive, and our combined efforts are bearing fruit. For example, glass recycling has increased from 8 per cent to 17 per cent since 1986 and can recycling has risen to 10 per cent in the same period from a position of virtually zero in 1986. While these results are encouraging we have a long way to go to reach the European average in the recycling league. There are extensive untapped resources in wastes which are thrown away. It is up to all of us, policy makers, manufacturers and consumers alike, to play our part in ensuring that these resources are realised for out mutual benefit.