Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am not afraid to push industry. I introduced the ban on flat rate bin charges last year. I am rolling out brown bins across the country, which the industry does not like. Many issues Deputy Ryan touched on are issues we are actively engaged with at the moment.

As the Deputy knows, plastic does not go into incineration; the vast majority goes into other facilities across the country. It should not be going into facilities in the first place. The major problem we have is the contamination of plastic. The reason China is closed to us in respect of plastic is because of the scale of contamination. Since the back end of last year, we now have a uniform list of materials which can go into the recycle bin. Paper and plastic needs to be dry and clean if it is to be put into the bin. Recycling ambassadors are knocking on doors in Roscommon, Galway and every other county across the country to explain to people what can and cannot go into a recycling bin, how it should be presented and what can and cannot go into the brown bin. We want brown bins to be rolled out to every home across the country. We need to encourage homeowners to start segregating their materials properly.

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