Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 2 June 2004
15 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he will draw up a plan and advise potato growers, in particular, on the way in which to dispose of or re-utlilise many large synthetic seed potatoes bags which are being piled in the corner of certain fields and burned in the absence of advice from his Department. [14835/04]
View answerThe Waste Management Acts 1996 to 2003 place a general duty of care on the holders of waste to ensure that it is disposed of in a manner which does not cause environmental pollution. In addition, under the Air Pollution Act 1987, the occupier of any premises or land is prohibited from causing or permitting an emission in such a quantity or manner as to be a nuisance. The enforcement of waste and air pollution legislation is primarily a matter for the relevant local authority and my Department has no direct function in the matter. However, as part of the Race Against Waste campaign, I am considering ways in which better awareness about the issues surrounding the uncontrolled burning of waste can be created.
I am aware of the increasing replacement of paper packaging with plastic in the agricultural sector, particularly in the areas of animal feed and vegetable packaging. Article 18 of Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste prohibits member states from impeding the placing on the market of packaging that satisfies the provisions of the directive, that is, which is in accordance with the essential requirements specified in annex II of the directive as to the composition and reusable and recoverable nature of packaging.
In accordance with the principle of producer responsibility, measures are required to ensure that systems are set up to provide for the return and/or collection of used packaging, and for the reuse or recovery, including recycling, of the packaging waste collected, to assist in meeting the packaging waste recovery and recycling targets set for Ireland in Directive 94/62/EC. Producer responsibility initiatives already operate in the areas of packaging waste and farm plastics waste, that is, Repak in the case of packaging waste and Irish Farm Film Producers' group in the case of farm plastics, for example, silage bale wrap and sheeting. In these cases, producers are required to take steps to recover waste or alternatively to contribute to, and participate in, compliance schemes set up to recover the waste in question.
I am anxious to build on the success of the farm plastics scheme and my Department will, in consultation with relevant stakeholders, look at ways in which recovery and recycling in this sector can be further developed.
