Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 May 2017
593. Deputy Peter Burke asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if there are exemptions on the plastic bag levy for persons (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24223/17]
View answerSection 72 of the Waste Management Act, 1996, as inserted by section 9 of the Waste Management (Amendment) Act, 2001, provided for the introduction of a 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. This has further reduced to an estimated 8 bags per person per year by the end of 2016. The levy has also reduced significantly the extent of plastic bags recorded in the annual National Litter Pollution Monitoring Survey from 5% in 2001 to 0.23% in 2016. The levy has, therefore, been very successful as a policy instrument in terms of encouraging more environmentally sustainable behaviour by all consumers, and there are no exemptions based on categories of persons.
