Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 July 2018
2037. Deputy John Curran asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the steps he is taking to reduce packaging at household level in order to reduce further increases in charges on householders in view of the recently introduced charges for recyclable waste by some waste management providers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32909/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department has funded and engaged with stakeholders on a range of measures to support better recycling at household level and to reduce the contamination of waste, including:
- a national, standardised list of items that can go into the recycle bin has been established, which is available at http://recyclinglistireland.ie, to simplify the process of recycling for households;
- the standardised list has been promoted by a public awareness campaign run by the regional waste management authorities comprising radio advertisements, social media, billboards/posters, etc.; and,
- a ‘master recycling’ programme, also run by the regional waste management authorities, in partnership with environmental NGOs, is being rolled out to 650 workshops across the country, training recycling ambassadors to bring the recycling message and understanding to a wide variety of communities.
In line with the commitments set out in A Resource Opportunity - Waste Management Policy in Ireland, published in 2012, and in the interest of encouraging further waste prevention and greater recycling, flat-rate fees for kerbside household waste collection are being phased out over the period autumn 2017 to autumn 2018, as customers contracts come up for renewal. The necessary regulatory steps have been put in place in terms of requiring household waste collectors to phase out flat rate fees.
It is worth noting that this measure is not ‘new’ for about half of kerbside household waste customers, who are already on an incentivised usage pricing plan, i.e., a plan which contains a per lift or a weight related fee.
In terms of environmental requirements, charges should encourage householders to divert waste from the residual or general waste bin. For example, it would be expected that charges for the general waste bin would be higher than charges, if any, applied to the recycle bin.
Charges applied by waste management companies are matters for those companies and their customers, subject to compliance with all applicable environmental, consumer and contract legislation.
I established a Household Waste Collection Price Monitoring Group (PMG) last year to monitor the rates charged by household waste collectors during the phasing out of flat rate fees. The PMG has met each month since September 2017 and has considered ten months of pricing data trends. The PMG has indicated that, in the vast majority of cases to date, prices have remained stable. Detailed data on the price offerings for the months of December to June is available on www.dccae.gov.ie.
In relation to plastic packaging, REPAK manages the collection and recycling of 80% of packaging on the market. Fees paid by their members are based on the amount of packaging the members place on the market and this incentivises them to reduce packaging. REPAK also employs specialist packaging technologists to optimise packaging design and minimise waste.
REPAK is also working closely with the large grocery retailers on a number of proposals aimed at improving their approach to packaging. In addition, I continue to engage with these retailers, looking for their commitment to reduce non-recyclable plastic packaging in their stores.
In January 2018, the European Commission published the European Strategy for Plastics in the Circular Economy. The strategy focuses on plastic production and use. It sets a goal of ensuring all plastic packaging will be recyclable by 2030. I have assured the European Commissioner that Ireland fully embraces the ambitions of the new strategy.
I have also welcomed the recent legislative proposal from the European Commission for dealing with the ten single-use plastic (SUP) products, including coffee cups, and fishing gear that together account for 70% of marine litter in Europe. The Commission's SUP proposal will now go to the European Parliament and Council for adoption and Member States have been urged to treat this as a priority in order to deliver tangible results as soon as possible. I believe that working proactively with our European colleagues on this initiative will achieve great environmental benefit for citizens across Europe.
