Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 16 May 1995

Vol. 452 No. 8

Written Answers. - Detergents and Household Cleaners

Eoin Ryan

Ceist:

136 Mr. E. Ryan asked the Minister for the Environment the source of his information for the statement contained in his reply to Parliamentary Question No. 3 of 27 April 1995, that phosphate-free products represent about 40 per cent of overall domestic consumption of washing powders and liquids; if he will give comparative figures for previous years; if he will publish figures to show the quantities in use and trends in use of such substances by agriculture and industry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8585/95]

Minister for the Environment (Mr. Howlin)

The data concerned was generated by the Irish Detergent and Allied Products Association in the context of discussions with my Department on a voluntary agreement to increase use of phosphate-free products. Total domestic and commercial usage of detergents and household cleaners (including powder and liquid fabric washing products) is currently estimated at some 46,000 tonnes per annum, of which 26,000 tonnes is phosphate-free. By comparison, in 1988, some 34,000 tonnes of such products were used, 14,000 tonnes of which were phosphate-free.

Domestic powder and liquid washing fabric products are by far the biggest single source of phosphates from detergents. These are accordingly the main target for improvement: an estimated 12,000 tonnes (40 per cent of the total) of such products are now phosphate-free compared with none in 1988.

Detailed figures on the quantities and trends in use of phosphate-free detergents in agriculture or industry are not available; usage of phosphate-based detergents in these sectors is believed to be low.