Vol. 470 No. 1
189 Miss M. Wallace asked the Minister for the Environment if he will give details of all recycling grants paid out by his Department during the past five years, including the amount of grant payable, the authority/group in receipt of the grant and the purpose for the grant; if he will make a statement on the progress made nationally on recycling; and if he has satisfied himself with the progress made to date in this regard. [18295/96]
Recycling grant schemes have been operated by my Department since 1989. Information has already been published in relation to grants paid each year and is contained in Environment Bulletin Nos. 9, 12, 15, 20, 21, 25 and 29, copies of which are available in the Oireachtas Library. This year, to date, one grant payment of £100,000 has been made to Kerbside Dublin. I expect to be in a position shortly to announce further grant approvals for both local authority and private sector recycling projects under the Operational Programme for Environment Services.
Good progress is being achieved in the development of waste recycling and the achievement of national recycling targets. The various grant schemes which have operated since 1989 have contributed significantly to the substantial expansion of recycling activities and infrastructure which has occurred in that period. The number of recycling bring bank sites increased from some 60 sites in 1988 to 200 in 1993 and there are now an estimated 426 sites throughout the country.
The most recent and comprehensive information on waste and recycling is contained in the National Waste Database Report, 1995, published by the Environmental Protection Agency. A copy of the report is available in the Oireachtas Library. In relation to combined household and commercial waste, the report indicates that between 1993 and 1995 the recycling rates have increased from 7.4 per cent to 10.4 per cent for all such waste, and from 10.3 per cent to 15.6 per cent for packaging waste.
