Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 18 May 2021

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Farm Plastics Recycling: Discussion

Mr. Liam Moloney:

Of course, we are primarily and only concerned with the plastic we collect ourselves. As I mentioned earlier, we see the market improving so we are very confident that we will recycle all we collect this year, as well as what we carried over from previous years, in the next 12 months.

The big push to manage plastic resources in a more sustainable way will see increased demand for plastic waste over the coming years. Manufacturers of plastic products now are increasingly being asked to put recycled content in their products and in time, this will see an increase in demand for plastic waste, including farm plastic waste. For the moment, however, it undoubtedly is a difficult enough market situation. That is where we see things, however.