Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 29 June 2021

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Collection and Recycling of Farm Plastics: Discussion

Mr. Liam Moloney:

Good afternoon everybody. There is no doubt that the recycling market has been difficult over the past number of years because of the decision taken by the Chinese three years ago to stop importing plastic waste. However, it has improved in the recent past. In our case, we carried over 10,000 to 12,000 tonnes of waste from last year. We expect to collect in the region of 30,000 to 35,000 tonnes this year at our bring centres and at the farmyard. We are confident that the vast majority of that will be recycled in advance of the commencement of the 2022 season. It is a difficult situation, but as far as we are concerned it is one that is being managed correctly and we are confident that we will be able to recycle all the material that we collect.