Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important Bill. Sinn Féin welcomes the intention of this legislation and commends the sentiments behind it. We should make progress with the sensible ideas set out in it.

The pollution issues caused by plastic in our environment have been outlined. Once-off plastic packaging accounts for approximately 25% of all plastic that is produced. It is estimated that 32% of plastic packaging escapes completely from collection systems. By 2050, oceans are expected to contain more plastic than fish by weight. The entire plastic industry will consume 20% of total oil production and 15% of annual carbon budgets. It is clear to everyone other than people like Donald Trump who believe there is no much thing as global warming that this is not the way to go. We need to do something big. We need to move away from the throwaway culture in our society and towards a more environmentally economical system.

We need to face the problems that exist in parts of our countryside which have been destroyed by illegal dumping and litter. It is left to tidy towns committees, local community groups and ad hocgroups of people in the countryside to come together to pick up the waste that blights our landscape. Deputy Dooley mentioned what is revealed when he is out jogging, particularly in the winter months when the growth in the ditches has died back. We all see shocking amounts of waste in such locations. Can one imagine what would be there if rural dwellers and Tidy Towns committees did not go out and pick up rubbish from gateways and ditches in rural areas?

Schemes like the one that is being proposed this evening need to be seen as part of other initiatives. We have done very well with household recycling from a very low starting point. I remember talking in schools in the early 1990s about the need for recycling. Children were receptive to it but adults were not. It is estimated that 45% of household waste is now being recycled. This demonstrates that we can accept change and are willing to recognise what we need to do for the sake of the environment.

We received a good level of co-operation with the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015 when it was going through this House. However, we are slow in making progress with meeting the intentions of that Act. Strong waste legislation needs to be implemented and enforced so that this country can catch up. We need to take actions that will reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. The Bill before the House, and Bills like it, will be part of that.

When we discussed the cost of waste collection and disposal last week, we were seeking to deal with the problem after it has been created. We were looking at back-end solutions. We need to move to front-end solutions that minimise the size of the waste mountain. This means reducing the size of the problem in the first instance. Ideas like the introduction of a deposit and recycling scheme and the banning of certain plastics are not radical. Such policies are in place in many other jurisdictions. In many countries, well-established systems of this kind are decades old. We need to follow suit in this State.

If this slim Bill is to fulfil its objectives, it will need a lot of work. Its intentions are good and we certainly support them. The Bill gives extensive powers to the Minister regarding the establishment of a scheme. It sets out how the scheme will function. We recognise that certain powers will be needed when the scheme is being set up. We have to be wary about how we handle this. We need more detail. It is difficult to picture fully how the scheme will work under this short Bill. Who will bear the cost of establishing the scheme? How extensive or limited will it be?

This Bill refers to powers under the Waste Management Act 1996. I have compared the provisions of this Bill with section 29 of the 1996 Act, which requires "a producer, distributor or retailer to operate a deposit and refund scheme". This Bill is broad in terms of where the burden will rest. Will it rest with the retailer, the producer or the citizen? The proposal in the Bill to ban plastic tableware refers again to the Minister's power under the 1996 Act to prohibit, limit or control "in a specified manner and to a specified extent, the importation, distribution, supply or sale in a specified container or other packaging of any product or substance". It seems to me that this Bill should further define the items in question.

Our aim must be to ensure those who produce excess packaging in the first place - this is done to sell products by making them look more glamorous or to beef them up a bit - bear responsibility for reducing waste and helping to establish schemes like that envisaged in this Bill. However, I do not suggest that such producers have all the responsibility. Everyone must have some responsibility. Every single citizen in the State, including the Members of this House, has some responsibility. We need to start at the source of the problem. While we welcome this initiative, it needs further work to ensure any scheme that is set up works and achieves its aims.

We know the cost of dealing with illegal dumping in County Laois, where I come from. The local authority in the county, which has a population of 86,000, spends €445,000 on illegal dumping and street cleaning each year. Unfortunately, it costs almost €500,000 to employ litter wardens, enforce the regulations in this area, clean up illegal dumping blackspots, clean streets and award tidy towns grants. The county council, which works with Tidy Towns committees, has to spend this money, which could be better spent.

In car parks on a Sunday morning, in Portlaoise and other town centres, despite the best efforts of everybody, one often sees four little piles of takeaway waste where four people sitting in a car have been eating and drinking and, when they have finished, they wind down the windows and each leaves a little pile outside the car. That defies logic.

Last week, I attended en event in Abbeyleix to mark its involvement in Tidy Towns and to judge an EU floral competition. Abbeyleix is maintained to a high standard due to the great efforts of the local Tidy Towns committee, Laois County Council and the local community employment schemes, all of whom have to be commended. Tidy Towns committees operate across Laois and the entire country so we must try to complement their efforts. The creation of a deposit return scheme should be one element of creating a much broader outlook as regards waste management and waste reduction in our society.

My party has its own Bill for a deposit return scheme and other measures which it will introduce tomorrow and which is much more extensive but it has, unfortunately, been in the Bills Office for the past five weeks, since 7 June. We were the victim of detail and went into too much of it in an attempt to cover all the angles. Nevertheless, this Bill is welcome. We have tried to take a holistic approach and we must progress on the issue without getting into divisions. The Minister spoke about costs but his figures may need closer attention. There is a cost but there is a cost, financial environmental and to communities and local authorities, if we do not do it. We cannot afford to do nothing and we should reduce waste by making it impossible not to reuse.

We need to make sure we do not place financial burdens on ordinary households. They have to take responsibility to reduce, reuse and recycle but the burden must not be disproportionate as against the major producers. We need a front-end approach to the problems and to deal with them at source. It is time to take our responsibilities seriously and the time for action. It is time to deal with our increasing greenhouse gas emissions because we have not covered ourselves in glory in this regard. Two years have passed and we have to play catch-up. I warned, in this Chamber, that we would face a carbon cliff and we are up against it now. We must step up to the plate and do something about it. I welcome the united front of the Labour Party and the Green Party with this Bill and its measures are good for the environment and for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and good for our communities and the economy. We cannot afford not to do it.

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