Vol. 568 No. 5
82 Mr. Murphy asked the Minister for the Environment Heritage and Local Government if he is considering the imposition of a tax on heavy duty plastic sacks similar to the retail plastic bag tax; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16629/03]
An environmental levy on plastic bags was introduced on 4 March 2002 with the primary purpose of influencing consumer behaviour so as to minimise the use of plastic bags dispensed at retail outlets and lessen their impact on the environment as a highly visible component of litter. The levy has been an overwhelming success with a reduction in the use of plastic bags by over 90% and a corresponding impact on the visible environment.
However, the environmental levy on plastic shopping bags does not apply to plastic primary packaging, in the form of bags or otherwise, containing goods or products, regardless of size or contents, nor does it apply to plastic sacks sold as products in their own right.
Heavy duty plastic sacks are sold for a variety of consumer uses, for example, as bin liners. I do not consider that the same anti-litter rationale as applied in the case of plastic shopping bags necessarily arises in the case of those types of products which have a valid use in the consumer's management of domestic waste. I am not therefore considering proposals to apply levies to such products.
I am aware of the increasing replacement of paper packaging with plastic in the agricultural sector, particularly in the areas of animal feed and vegetable packaging. It should be noted that under Article 18 of EU Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste, member states are prohibited from impeding the placing on the market of packaging that satisfies the provisions of the directive. This is in accordance with the essential requirements specified in Annex II of the directive as to the composition and the reusable and recoverable nature of packaging.
In accordance with the principle of producer responsibility, 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 the packaging waste recovery and recycling targets set for Ireland in Directive 94/62/EC. Producer responsibility initiatives already operate in the areas of packaging waste and farm plastics waste such as Repak Limited in the case of packaging waste and Irish Farm Films Producers Group, with administrative support from Repak in the case of farm plastics such as silage bale wrap and sheeting.
Additional informationIn 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 under review the use of plastic packaging in the agricultural and other sectors and will consider whether further arrangements are required to improve its collection and recovery.
I believe they are doing an excellent job and we should look at further using their services.
I agree that the tax on retail plastic bags was a success and we have eliminated them as a source of pollution. However, is the Minister of State resting on his laurels? I saw recently that there is a proposal to impose an environmental tax on chewing gum. Is there a proposal from the Department to introduce such a tax?
The Deputy will find, in the context of An Agreed Programme for Government, the Department has considered further levies on problematic packaging whether it is beverage containers or, indeed, chewing gum. I wish we could find the solution to the chewing gum problem. However, we are not resting on our laurels. We are working closely with the Irish Farm Film Producers Group through informal talks. There is a charge on producers and they, as a result, have to collect all the heavy plastics such as bale wrap. This is collected by the farm relief services. Perhaps after some informal discussions, we can prevail upon them to also collect the other plastic bags that are used for packaging feeds. We cannot tax those because of trade regulations but we can consider an economic strategy. However, there is no intention of new taxes at the moment.
The plastic bag levy is welcomed by people as an anti-littering measure and an attempt to reduce waste. I ask the Minister of State to look again at the position in regard to the larger plastic bag. In my constituency in north County Dublin, the plastic bag is taking over from the paper sack as a form of packaging of goods in farming. It is a retrograde step as this form of packaging does not biodegrade. Will the Minister of State also look at returnable packaging measures for products such as aluminium cans and glass, as we had in the past? These measures are being introduced in other countries such as Denmark and Germany. I ask that such measures be fast-tracked so that we may have genuine incentives to reduce waste?
I refer to the European Union directive under which I cannot place a ban on trade by a tax on these products. However, I will consider the situation and we will have further informal talks with the IFFP. It is changing over to an Irish board which involves a transition period. After that, we will enter into further talks to establish the same procedure with plastic bags on farms as currently exists with heavy wrap.
The Deputy's suggestion on options for deposit return systems will also be given consideration. The success of the plastic bag levy has shown clearly that we should do something further to overcome the serious problems that exist.
