Communications Climate Action & Environment Committee to discuss waste tyres regulation and EU legislative proposals

Committee Vice Chair James Lawless said: “For many years, Ireland has had a problem with stockpiles of waste tyres illegally dumped around the countryside, potentially causing toxic fire threats and damage to human health.

To address the issue, last month the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment Denis Naughten signed the new Waste Management (Tyres and Waste Tyres) Regulations 2017 which introduced new regulatory structures for the tyre sector with effect from 1st October 2017.

The new regulations for the tyre sector will introduce a full compliance scheme to be operated by Repak ELT with a registration and reporting role for the Producer Register Limited (PRL), which was established to assist producers in meeting their obligations for the responsible management of waste. The scheme will be based on the Producer Responsibility model that has been in operation in this country for other waste streams such as packaging, batteries and waste electrical, electronic goods. The new structures will be funded by a visible Environmental Management Cost of €2.80 per car tyre and €1.50 per motorcycle tyre.

Tomorrow, we will examine the regulations in greater detail when we will meet with representatives from the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment; Environmental Protection Agency; Repak Producer Register Limited, Irish Tyre Industry Association; Independent Tyre Wholesalers and Retailers Association; Irish Farmers Association; Irish Road Hauliers Association; Protecting Uplands & Rural Environments; and the Association for Retail Tyre Standards.”

This meet will start in Committee 2 at 5pm today, 17 October 2017. Committee proceedings can be watched live here.

Before the Committee considers the new regulations for waste tyres, it will carry out scrutiny of the following EU Legislative Proposals:

Schedule A: COM(2016)287 [audiovisual media services], COM(2016)789 [environmental reporting], and COM(2017)54 [aviation activities];

Schedule B: COM(2016)175, COM(2016)285, http://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regdoc/rep/1/2016/EN/1-2016-285-EN-F1-1.PDFCOM(2017)51, COM(2017)83, COM(2017)132, COM(2017)366, COM(2017)427 and COM(2017)428.

Ends