Vol. 548 No. 5
314 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the size of a plastic bag which is charged at 15 cent by regulation from his Department; his plans to extend this regulation to cover industrial plastic bags; if so, the charge and size of such industrial bags; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5424/02]
315 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to the fact that there is a growing increase in the use of plastic bags in the animal feed sector; his plans to rectify this matter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5425/02]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 314 and 315 together.
The Waste Management (Environmental Levy) (Plastic Bag) Regulations, 2001, provide that the 15 cent levy on plastic bags, due to take effect from 4 March 2002, will apply to all plastic bags supplied to customers at the point of sale to them of goods or products to be placed in the bags in any shop, supermarket, service station or other sales outlet. There is an exemption for bags used for non-packaged fresh food products, such as fish, meat, poultry, fruit and vegetables. The dimensions of these bags must not exceed 225 millimetres in width, exclusive of any gussets, by 345 millimetres in depth, inclusive of any gussets, by 450 millimetres in length, inclusive of any handles. Plastic bags designed for reuse and which are sold to customers for a sum of not less than 70 cent are also exempt as are bags provided to departing passengers in ports or airports and on board ships or aircraft. The levy will not apply to plastic primary packaging, in the form of bags or otherwise, containing goods or products, regardless of size or contents.
Over and above the new levy, necessary measures are required to ensure that systems are set up to provide for the return and, or, collection of used packaging and for the reuse or recovery – including recycling – of the packaging waste collected, to assist in meeting packaging waste recovery and recycling targets. In accordance with the principle of producer responsibility initiatives already operating in Ireland in the areas of packaging waste and farm plastics waste, such as Repak, in the case of packaging waste, and Irish Farm Films Producers Group in the case of farm plastics, for example bale wrap. In these cases, producers are required to take steps to recover waste or alternatively to contribute to and participate in compliance schemes set up to recover the waste in question. My Department will keep the use of plastic packaging in the agricultural and other sectors under review and will consider whether further arrangements are required to improve its collection and recovery.
