Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 9 March 2017
315. Deputy Noel Grealish asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if Ireland is in compliance with WEEE obligations under EU legislation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12524/17]
View answer316. Deputy Noel Grealish asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if fines have been imposed in respect of any failure to meet WEEE obligations under EU legislation in the past seven years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12525/17]
View answer317. Deputy Noel Grealish asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the details of the levels of WEEE compliance under EU legislation for each year from 2010 to 2016 and to date in 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12526/17]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 315 to 317, inclusive, together.
Ireland has met every target prescribed by the European Union under the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive to date and I am satisfied that my Department has put in place the legislation and supporting structures and systems required to ensure that all future targets will continue to be met.
Each Member State is obliged to meet targets for the collection of household WEEE per person per annum, and separate targets for recovery, reuse and recycling for each of the ten categories of WEEE. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) statistics, published in January 2017, illustrate Ireland’s current progress towards meeting EU waste targets including WEEE. The most recent WEEE statistics are with respect to 2014 and demonstrate that 7.2 kg of household WEEE was collected per person in Ireland, compared to the EU target of 4 kg per person, and that Ireland is also meeting recovery rates of 80% and 90% across different recycling processes. This information is available on the EPA’s website http://www.epa.ie/pubs/reports/waste/stats/EPA_Progress%20towards%20EU%20targets_Jan17_web.pdf.
These statistics are tangible proof of the positive response to the implementation of the WEEE directive in Ireland. Since the introduction of the Irish WEEE legislation, some 100 million waste electrical items have been collected and over 300,000 tonnes of WEEE diverted from landfill. The Irish public have supported the WEEE system and have fully utilised the network of free collection facilities and take-back options available to them. In so doing, they have played an important role in eradicating the visible blight on our countryside and towns caused by waste fridges and washing machines and other electro-scrap.
