The phasing out of phosphate-based laundry detergents has been progressed principally in the context of a voluntary agreement made in 1999 between the then Minister for the Environment and Local Government and the Irish Cosmetics and Detergents Association (ICDA), which represented some 90% of the domestic laundry detergents market in Ireland. The agreement provided that by the end of 2002, 95% of all domestic laundry detergents marketed in Ireland should be zero-phosphate. This target was substantially achieved — figures submitted by ICDA at that time indicated a market share of between 93% and 94% for phosphate free products.
The Chemicals Acts 2008 and 2010, for which the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise, and Innovation has responsibility, provide for the implementation and enforcement in Ireland of a number of directly applicable European Regulations, including the Detergents Regulation. An amendment to the Detergents Regulation has been adopted by the European Parliament and by the European Council and will be published shortly in the Official Journal of the European Union, from which date it will become binding on member states. The amending Regulation, which effectively supersedes the voluntary agreement, restricts the use of phosphates and other phosphorus compounds in domestic laundry detergents and will be applicable from 30 June 2013.
It is estimated that the total load of phosphorous from household detergents entering Ireland's rivers and lakes is a relatively small proportion (less than 1%) of the total load from all sources. The most recent (2010) data available indicate that there has been a 66% reduction in phosphorous loading entering the sea from our major rivers, compared to the average loading entering the sea for the period 1990-1997.
