Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 17 July 2014
485. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide in tabular format the levy rate and amounts generated by the plastic bag levy per annum since its introduction; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32357/14]
View answerThe plastic bag levy is first and foremost an economic instrument, which has as its objective the encouragement of more environmentally sustainable behaviour. In particular, the levy was introduced as an anti-litter measure designed to influence consumers by encouraging them to reduce their use of disposable plastic bags.
Section 72 of the Waste Management Act 1996, as inserted by section 9 of the Waste Management (Amendment) Act 2001, provided for the introduction of the plastic bag levy. The Waste Management (Environmental Levy)(Plastic Bag) Order 2007 and the Waste Management (Environmental Levy) (Plastic Bag) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2007 allowed for the levy to be increased from its previous level of 15 cent per bag to 22 cent per bag from 1 July 2007.
The introduction of the levy in March 2002 led to a dramatic reduction in the number of disposable plastic bags supplied to consumers, from an estimated 328 bags per person per year prior to the introduction of the levy, to 21 bags per person by the end of 2002 and a further reduction to an estimated 15 bags per person by the end of 2013.
The National Litter Pollution Monitoring System is used to measure the impact of the plastic bag levy on an ongoing basis and my Department also monitors the receipts from the plastic bag levy to monitor trends in the average per capita consumption of plastic bags. These data are used to ensure that the plastic bag levy is set at an appropriate level. The National Litter Pollution Monitoring System Report 201 3 reports that plastic bags constituted 0. 14 % of litter arising in 2013. This compares with 5% prior to the levy’s introduction.
Receipts from the plastic bag levy for each year are published in the Environment Fund Annual Accounts. The 2013 Annual Accounts will be published on my Department's website in due course after they have been audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General while copies of the Annual Accounts up to and including 2012 are available on my Department's website at the following weblink: http://www.environ.ie/en/Environment/Waste/EnvironmentFund/.
