Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 February 2023
76. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications his proposals to reduce the amount of polyethylene terephthalate, PET, plastic exported from Ireland; if he has considered introducing a levy on the use of virgin plastics; and if his Department will collate data on the quantities of PET plastic that are recycled domestically and exported. [9966/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraAt present, the waste management industry in Ireland relies, in part, on the export market to meet its processing needs for the volumes of waste packaging produced. While there is no EU or international waste code that facilitates PET data collection, several organisations collate data on different aspects of PET, plastic waste, recycling and exports.
- The National Transfrontier Shipment Office maintains records of waste exports much of which is published online.
- The Environmental Protection Agency collects packaging waste data and publishes this information online.
- Repak, the national packaging producer responsibility scheme, incentivises domestic recycling providing a reprocessing subsidy of €80 per tonne for plastic re-processors based in Ireland.
Under the Single Use Plastics Directive, Ireland will be required to report on separate collection for recycling targets of plastic bottles in 2025. The Deposit Return Scheme launched in November last year will provide specific data on PET plastic bottles.
The Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy 2020 - 2025 commits to examining measures to support increased use of recycled materials in packaging including the possible introduction of a virgin plastic levy. However, any intervention in the market must be carefully assessed and take account of a fast-evolving policy landscape in the EU. Recent European Commission proposals for new Packaging and Packaging Waste legislation that includes mandatory recycled plastic content rates will be particularly influential. It will be important that any measures taken nationally will not run contrary to the policy direction evolving across the single market.
