Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)

Ireland has enjoyed considerable success in recent years in meeting targets for the recovery and recycling of packaging waste. Data from the Environmental Protection Agency show that we met the 25% target for 2001 set under the packaging waste directive and that we are on course to meet the 50% recovery target for 2005. The comparable figure for 1998 was approximately 14%. The practical implementation of the packaging directive in Ireland is organised mainly through a collective industry-based compliance scheme operated by Repak Limited, which is working successfully. Under this scheme, Repak subsidises the collection and recycling of both commercial and domestic packaging waste. There has also been a significant acceleration in our recycling performance in other waste streams, such as electrical and electronic equipment, construction and demolition waste. This is being made possible by the rolling out of the necessary infrastructure in terms of recycling facilities. In recent years we have doubled the number of bring banks and civic amenity sites.

Building on our success in the area of packaging waste recycling, I established the national strategy group on packaging waste recycling in October 2004, involving the key public and private stakeholders such as Repak, IBEC, producers, waste collectors, reprocessors, local authorities and my Department. The group is mandated to develop a strategy for achieving the 2011 targets under an amended packaging waste directive, which will require an overall recovery rate of 60%.

I am aware that the level of subsidy for waste collection services has been raised as an issue by certain local authorities in the context of the revision of their waste management plans. The strategy group is the appropriate forum in which to find consensus between all of the stakeholders on the best way to address all of the issues, including the appropriate levels of financial support from producers for the recovery and recycling activities of the local authorities. The partnership approach is the appropriate way to make further progress in this area.

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