I do not consider that costs incurred by businesses arising from their membership of the waste recovery scheme operated by Repak Limited constitute or equate to a tax on the business community.
Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste requires EU member states to achieve specified recovery and recycling targets for packaging waste. Ireland is required to achieve recovery rates of 25 per cent or more for packaging waste by 30 June 2001 and 50 per cent or more by 31 December 2005.
In accordance with the principle of producer responsibility, many EU member states, including Ireland, have approached the implementation of this directive on the basis that those businesses which have a major commercial involvement with the placing of packaging on the market, i.e., importers, manufacturers, packer-fillers, distributors and retailers, should have primary responsibility for devising, operating and financing systems for the return and recovery of packaging wastes which subsequently arise.
Repak Limited was established in 1997 by Irish industry as a voluntary compliance scheme to promote, co-ordinate and finance the collection and recovery of packaging waste, so as to achieve the national targets specified above.
Under the Waste Management (Packaging) Regulations, 1997, which were introduced to support this initiative and combat the problem of "free riders", all producers of packaging waste are required to take certain steps to recover this waste. Particular obligations are imposed on "major producers" i.e. businesses which annually have a turnover in excess of £1 million and place more than 25 tonnes of packaging waste on the Irish market. Producers have the option either of complying with their producer responsibility obligations under the regulations, or getting exemption from those requirements by becoming a member of Repak Limited's waste recovery scheme.
