Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the issue of plastics. I wish we were speaking about it with a better record in terms of reducing litter, reducing illegal dumping and reducing the volume of plastic we are producing.

I commend the Sick of Plastic day initiative that will take place this Saturday. The fact that this is happening and that people will be encouraged on Saturday to hand back to supermarkets and shops any excess packaging is welcome because the problem starts with the manufacturer and is then passed on to the wholesaler and the retailer. In Ireland, 983,380 tonnes of packaging waste was generated in 2015. That is a massive figure, and it will increase this year because we were only working our way out of a recession in 2015.

Manufacturers are creating a conveyor belt system of waste with little interest to date from Governments in terms of changing that. Some measures were introduced, and I welcome that the Minister mentioned that legislation on microbeads is being prepared. That is an issue we need to address, but the waste continues to be produced with excessive packaging on products. Plastic use in packaging accounts for 40% of Europe's overall plastics. At the end of the conveyor belt, that creates a burden on the householder and we see that it sometimes winds up being illegally dumped. People have to pay expensively to dispose of it.

The principles of reduce, reuse and recycle needs to form the foundation of Government policy and we need solutions to be brought forward to solve the horrific problems of pollution and illegal dumping in the State. Sinn Féin is of the view that reduce has to be the first of those principles followed because we have to get to grips with this problem. Sinn Féin brought forward a Bill last year on establishing the type of deposit return scheme for plastic bottles and containers that the Minister mentioned. The Bill contained other provisions on illegal dumping and obligations on landlords and tenants. It is quite comprehensive. Considering the problem we face, it will take effective legislation and action to do this, but the Government simply rolled back from it. I put forward that Bill and I would like to Government to give it serious consideration and to take it up. We are not out of the blocks yet in terms of seriously tackling this problem.

When we talk of plastics waste we have to start with the manufacturer and excess packaging and work back to the householder and deal with plastic waste along that chain in terms of reducing it. The figures we are dealing with, as I outlined, are staggering, both nationally and globally. I mentioned that 983,380 tonnes of packaging waste was generated in Ireland in 2015, which is a huge amount. A total of 32% of plastic packaging is escaping collection systems, and we all know where it is ending up. We can see it in rivers, in the ocean, and in hedgerows, and dumped over gates in fields, in bogs, in beauty spots, and all over the place. I have even seen plastics being dumped in lakes. A study was conducted by scientists from the National University of Ireland Galway who published a report this year on plastics pollution in oceans and in fish life. This study was conducted in a very remote part of the North Atlantic. I was shocked by its finding that of the fish analysed, 73%, or nearly three quarters, had ingested microbead plastics or plastics of some sort. Microplastics are contaminating everything, even our drinking water, which we all know, along with the fish in our seas. We are doubly ingesting plastics. Once plastics are in the environment, they take a long time to break down. It can take up to 400 years for them to decompose.

In 2015, the European Commission adopted the circular economy package. This is where waste is reduced to a minimum at source. This EU package contains action plans. The Government has acknowledged its support for the circular economy but this State does not yet have a policy document in place or planned to match that. That is the type of action that needs to be taken.

The production of plastics has doubly damaging, destructive and long-lasting effects on our environment. Plastics are affecting our environment through pollution on the land and in the ocean, but they are also the link between emissions and climate change, and we know the problem that poses, with 90% of plastics being derived from fossil fuels. That is a connection we have to make. If we were to eliminate the use of fossil fuels in the morning for heat, transport etc., we would still be drilling for oil because of our dependence on plastics made from fossil fuels, which are contained in many of the goods we have ranging from pens, tableware, plastic seats, seats in cards to dashboards. We need to address that.

I mentioned the conveyor belt system of waste from excess packaging, but what do we do with the waste or where do we recycle it? We have hit a brick wall with that because of China's decision earlier this year to ban the importation of recyclable material from this State. The latest figure we have is that 95% of our plastic recyclables were being sent to China. Now that the route for the vast bulk of this waste has been completely blocked, it leaves the State exposed. It is reminder to all of us of the amount of waste we are producing and that it does not simply disappear when it put in the back of a bin lorry as it is driven down the street. It has to go somewhere. The fact that the Chinese market has been closed off exposes us to the reality of the amount we are creating and the years of inaction in terms of how we deal with plastics waste at source.

The current model of household waste collection in this State is seen as unique in Europe. I refer to the side-by-side competition. The Minister has given more choice to the collection companies but less choice to householders. Companies will be charging more for recycling bins. Is that a backward step? Are we encouraging more illegal dumping? We need to examine that and pay careful attention to it.

The Citizens' Assembly has made recommendations on information campaigns around the benefits of tackling climate change and steps to reduce plastic packaging, including a deposit return scheme for plastic bottles. The Bill I brought forward last year on a deposit return scheme for plastic bottles etc. has passed First Stage.

The Minister said he intended to set up a pilot scheme. I welcome that but I question whether it is necessary to pilot it because these schemes have been common across many countries in Europe for decades. I agree with the Minister that we do not want to start some hare-brained scheme that will fail, but there are models in place. The economies of other countries in terms of the systems they operate are not that different from ours, particularly the northern European countries. There are models in place for decades that are operating well. The Opposition and the Government should examine those and pick the best from them. We should do this and not spend more time talking about it. That alone will not solve the problems with plastics but it will go some way towards dealing with them.

We need to consider many changes in policy and legislation. This State can and should be a leader in having a green environment and protecting it. We need to start by encouraging more people to reduce, reuse and recycle, with a major emphasis on reducing, particularly in terms of setting a good example but also in terms of climate change benefits. However, we are not doing that. In fact, we are blackguards. We are lagging behind on that. The reason for that has to start in this House with the Government's lack of imagination, initiative and action in dealing with these environmental issues.

We need to engage industry, local businesses, where I acknowledge some good work has been done, and local government. I have told the Minister previously that we need to engage local government actively in major initiatives. The local authorities are the closest to the citizen and to communities, and while good work is being done at that level, we have to step that up in terms of waste reduction. Good work is being done by Tidy Towns committees, the Green Schools programme and with retailers, but we need to accelerate a major drive towards waste reduction and only recycle that which cannot be reduced. Citizens must become more involved in that. If the Government is going to take initiatives on illegal dumping, they will be broadly welcomed, but I have yet to see the detail of those. I propose that we take more effective action on that.

The Garda, litter wardens and citizens have to get involved in this in terms of gathering evidence against people who are driving out to country areas under the cover of darkness, sometimes in good cars, Jeeps and other forms of transport-----

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