Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 10 July 2024
22. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if he aware of the 2018 Competition and Consumer Protection Commission report on household waste collection; if he has any plans to establish an economic regulator in the sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29977/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe recommendations of the 2018 Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) report on the Operation of the Household Waste Collection Market, which considered issues such as market structure, competition and charges to households, were fully considered during the process of drafting of the Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy (WAPCE), launched in September 2020.
While the WAPCE does not envisage a change to the current market structure, it does contain a range of measures to empower households through enhanced consumer protection requirements. In terms of further improving waste performance, the focus for my Department is to encourage greater waste minimisation, improved waste segregation and increase our recycling rates. The provisions of the Circular Economy & Miscellaneous Provisions Act have allowed for a number of significant measures to be introduced from the WAPCE, including:
• incentivised waste collection charging in the commercial sector from 01 July 2023,
• a recovery levy on municipal waste recovery operations at municipal landfills, waste to energy plants, co-incineration plants and to the export of waste from 01 September 2023,
• the expansion of household bio-waste collection services from 31 December 2023 and
• the introduction of a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for single use PET plastic bottles and aluminium and steel cans which went live on February 1 2024.
These measures will assist in encouraging greater waste minimisation and improved source segregation of waste by customers across the state and will contribute to achieving our challenging EU targets for municipal waste.
