Mr. Séamus Clancy:

I think it is important to understand that we are on the same page where the intent of the Bill is concerned. We are supportive of the intention. We feel that other ways to deliver the potential outcomes should be examined, and we should be trying to achieve measurable outcomes. In that context, we are developing a plastics strategy. We have been working on it for about two years. There are a lot of complex stakeholders involved in this. We believe that Ireland Inc. needs to implement a good strategy to deal with plastic, and recycling as a whole, in order to hit the 2025 targets. We have a huge deficit in infrastructure.

I welcome the comments from the EPA calling for this to be examined in a very serious way, because that is what is needed. I am suggesting to the committee that this must be examined in a very holistic way, with the involvement of producers. At the end of the day, they are the people placing the material on the market. We work with them all the time to try to prevent and reduce use, reuse and do away with unnecessary packaging. Unnecessary packaging is a blight on our landscape throughout the country. It has to brought to an end, but they have to play a part.

The consumer has also been referred to. In urban areas, green bins have up to 30% contamination. That has an immediate impact on how much we can recycle. The third area to consider is the development of technology. It is still at a very low ebb, particularly for recyclers. The technology still needs to be developed. The circular economy package refers to tackling this problem.

Last but not least, Ireland Inc. needs to have a coherent, cohesive strategy to deal with this. The Chair asked a question about the bin itself. Removing polyethylene terephthalate, PET, the plastic present in beverage bottles, from the recycling bin would remove a valuable commodity. It is one of the varieties that is fairly stable worldwide. In the main, it does not go to China but is recycled in Europe. A much bigger problem is the amount of low-grade plastic on the market. I recommend that the committee looks at this in its totality, and uses this as a core body of work. The focus should not be on something that is a relatively small area in the overall context of plastic.

Moreover, when we are making comparisons it is important to remember that the situation in Ireland, where there is an extended producer responsibility scheme for 20 years, differs from a jurisdiction where there is no scheme and deposit returns are to be introduced. They all have different mechanisms for reaching the same level of return. It is important to note that in the countries where there is a deposit return scheme there is very little difference in overall recycling rates. A good example is Norway, which has had a lower overall recycling rate over 40 years than Ireland has today.