Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

At present, the quantity of recyclable materials placed on the market by industry in Ireland is in excess of domestic recycling capacity and the waste management industry relies, in part, on the export market to meet its processing needs. As Minister of State, I do not have the power in an open market to direct waste to be kept within Ireland or that it be directed to a specific facility for recycling. That being said, Repak, the national packaging extended producer responsibility scheme is incentivising domestic recycling ahead of recycling abroad. That is because it is not a Government body. Repak's scheme promotes domestic recycling and maximises funding to operators that collect, separate and reprocess PET plastics in Ireland.

For household collections, an additional reprocessing subsidy was introduced in 2020 and is only available to plastic reprocessors with operations in Ireland. In 2022 this subsidy increased from €35 per tonne to €50 per tonne. For commercial collections there is a stepped system in place with the highest subsidy payable where material is recycled in Ireland, mid-range funding where material is recycled in the EU or UK, and a reduced subsidy for material sent outside Europe. The forthcoming deposit return scheme for plastic bottles and aluminium cans, when operational, will increase the quantity and quality of materials available for recycling in Ireland.

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