Brendan Ryan (Dublin Fingal, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing time with Deputy Jan O'Sullivan.

I am proud to be part of this joint initiative between the Labour Party and the Green Party to deal with this very serious global issue. This is new politics at work and it is very effective.

This is not a particularly radical Bill, but it is one that makes sense and that will help the environment. It will foster an increased buy-in to a recycling ethic that will further change our attitudes to waste and renewable use containers. It is a short Bill with a long reach, one which, if implemented - we believe it most certainly should be - will have a similar impact to that of the plastic bag tax in 2002 when we were consuming 1.2 billion plastic bags per year in Ireland which, for a country of its the size, was incredible. Three years ago, our plastic bag consumption had reduced by 95%, while the plastic bag levy was bringing in €12.8 million to the Exchequer. What an incredible turnaround that was. In my ten years as a public representative, I have never heard one person lament the plastic bag levy. People instantly knew that it made sense and we replaced plastic bags with bags for life or paper bags. I believe the Bill, if implemented, will have the same impact. Irish people know if something makes sense and the Bill does. I commend the Green Party on bringing it forward and its commitment to adopting a sensible and long-sighted approach to waste and protection of the environment.

Waste and waste disposal have shot back to the forefront of people's consciousness in the past couple of weeks owing to the deferral of the pay by weight scheme and an announcement by Panda Waste Management that it would be inspecting bins for cross-contamination. This has caused some surprise and shock. Under the new contracts being issued by the company, customers will be fined between €10 and €25 for putting contaminated waste in any of its green, brown or black bins. The new contracts specify that contaminated waste in black bins includes, but is not limited to, paint, electrical equipment, batteries, organic waste, including food waste, and hazardous material. I have received calls from constituents who are raising valid concerns about this new approach by the company and others. We can all appreciate this: we put our bins on the kerbside at night prior to collection. The bins are unattended for up to 12 hours before they are collected. It is wide open to individuals to contaminate the bins of others. It is very worrying that someone who so much as puts a banana peel in someone else's black bin could cost that individual a fine of up to €35. People lliving in mid-terrace homes in estates such as Castleview in Swords, where laneways are inaccessible, have no choice but to leave their bins in a public space all week. They are open to contamination by passers-by who think nothing of putting an empty beer can or apple core in someone's bin. The Minister should intervene and bring some common sense to bear on this element of the problem.

The provision in the Bill for a deposit and return scheme for sealed beverage containers - it is a great scheme - will revolutionise people's approach to the use of glass and plastic bottles. Deposit and return schemes are commonplace all over Europe and while we led the charge in Europe with the plastic bag levy, we are playing catch-up when it comes to schemes such as this. We do not need to look very far to see the extent of plastic and glass bottle litter. It particularly affects waterways. Tidy Towns Facebook pages around the country show copious evidence of bottles in parks, rivers and lakes. I encourage everyone to watch the “We Need to talk about Plastic Bottles” video on The Guardianwebsite. It is a powerful 80 seconds of video. It states 1 million plastic bottles are bought around the world every minute. Despite the rise in recycling culture in the past few decades, just 7% of those collected last year were turned into new bottles. Most end up in landfill or the ocean. It is estimated that by 2050 plastic waste will outweigh all fish in the sea. These are absolutely shocking statistics. The scheme will not solve the global problem, but it will help us to play our part as a small country on the western coast of Europe by being responsible global citizens. The Bill will go some way towards that objective and I am happy to support it. Tonight, however, is the easy part. Committee Stage will be very challenging, as the Minister said. Having worked in the biggest soft drinks company in Ireland and, possibly, the world, for many years, I do not underestimate the challenge.

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