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Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Farm Plastics Recycling: Discussion (18 May 2021)

Jackie Cahill: ...slots are prioritised for members of the committee. Today's meetings is in two sessions. The first session, from 3.30 p.m. to 4.30 p.m., is an engagement with a representative from James Fitzgerald Agricultural Services. The second session, from 4.30 p.m. to 5.30 p.m., is an engagement with representatives of the Irish Farm Film Producers Group, IFFPG. For the first session on farm...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Farm Plastics Recycling: Discussion (18 May 2021)

Paul Daly: I welcome Mr. Fitzgerald to our meeting. I have been reading his submission. For the record, I am small suckler farmer in the midlands and my form of silage is wrapped bales, so while I am familiar with the process, I was not familiar with the intricacies of the arrangement. I was aware I was paying a levy, but I was not aware of where that levy was going. From reading the two...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Farm Plastics Recycling: Discussion (18 May 2021)

Mr. James Fitzgerald: First of all, to address the position on the levy, the IFFPG is the statutory agency charged with collection of the levy. There are approximately 40 or 50 importers and retailers of farm plastics in this country. They are all signed up with the IFFPG. They pay a levy at the point of import, or the point of sale, on the plastics. This is a system that has prevailed...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Farm Plastics Recycling: Discussion (18 May 2021)

Paul Daly: Can Mr. Fitzgerald confirm that he, as a sole trader and private collector, does not receive anything from the recycling levy or deposit I pay when I buy my plastic? Can he confirm that he has to operate without receiving any of that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Farm Plastics Recycling: Discussion (18 May 2021)

Mr. James Fitzgerald: I confirm that is exactly the case, yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Farm Plastics Recycling: Discussion (18 May 2021)

Jackie Cahill: To elaborate a bit further, what Mr. Fitzgerald is saying clearly to us is that for a number of years it was profitable to collect and export plastic without receiving the levy. He was able to do that without the levy. The IFFPG was collecting the levy and charging farmers at its depots for taking in the plastic, even though private operators were doing that in the absence of a levy. I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Farm Plastics Recycling: Discussion (18 May 2021)

Mr. James Fitzgerald: Yes, we have. We have about 1,500 tonnes on site here at the moment.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Farm Plastics Recycling: Discussion (18 May 2021)

Mr. James Fitzgerald: Yes. Part of that uneconomical scenario relates to low oil prices over the last number of years, which have changed the dynamic of the market. It is a commodity market and we would expect in the medium to longer term that this will correct itself. Perhaps, with a bit more legislative assistance, both in Ireland and in Europe, we would be in a position where this...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Farm Plastics Recycling: Discussion (18 May 2021)

Martin Browne: I welcome Mr. Fitzgerald. I am looking through the material and Senator Paul Daly has brought up some of the issues. As the Chairman noted, it seems crazy that there is a system whereby the IFFPG collects 100% of the levy but only collects 70% of the plastic, while the farmer also has to pay a deposit fee for the plastic to be returned. I have a couple of questions for Mr. Fitzgerald....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Farm Plastics Recycling: Discussion (18 May 2021)

Mr. James Fitzgerald: Under the current arrangement, I am free to operate where my facility permit allows, locally. My collector's permit allows me to operate in about four to five counties. The constraints in that regard are associated more with the original collection permits and licence in respect of the National Waste Collection Permit Office, NWCPO, in Offaly and the local authorities...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Farm Plastics Recycling: Discussion (18 May 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I thank the Chair and members for having this matter included on the agenda. I welcome Mr. Fitzgerald. I understand that when the Department initiated the scheme it basically involved farmers paying a deposit upfront and they were to get a refund. Can Mr. Fitzgerald confirm that was the basis on which the scheme was set up? Farmers paid €5, €6 or €7 for a roll of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Farm Plastics Recycling: Discussion (18 May 2021)

Mr. James Fitzgerald: I thank Deputy Fitzmaurice for his questions. His first point concerned the deposit refund. To confirm, that is the way the legislation was set up. Farmers were to pay upfront and then get a refund when the material was recycled. That is provided for in the original legislation back in 2001. I confirm that is the case.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Farm Plastics Recycling: Discussion (18 May 2021)

Mr. James Fitzgerald: No, the model seemed to evolve, morph or mutate from that approach. On the deposit refund scheme, the legislation also made provision for an approved body alternative. This is the element of it under which the IFFPG has been established as an approved body. It is the State-approved body to collect the levy on farm plastics coming into the country. The context...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Farm Plastics Recycling: Discussion (18 May 2021)

Mr. James Fitzgerald: Amber waste is considered hazardous waste. I do not know the context but amber waste is significantly more difficult to export. First, a bond of about €5,000 per load is required. For example, I could have a bond of €20,000 in place for four loads of plastic to be in play at any one time in my yard. Once the first load was recycled, I could then ship...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Farm Plastics Recycling: Discussion (18 May 2021)

Mr. James Fitzgerald: Yes, that is our understanding of it as well, that perhaps it was the machinery in Littleton. There were engineering and design issues with the facility. What was the Deputy's first point?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Farm Plastics Recycling: Discussion (18 May 2021)

Mr. James Fitzgerald: There is certainly strong anecdotal evidence in a couple of instances in that regard. I cannot verify any of that but that appears to be what is out there. A guarantee of supply is the first thing one needs when one is making a big investment in a place. It seems that, for whatever reason, these types of guarantee were not forthcoming with regard to processing...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Farm Plastics Recycling: Discussion (18 May 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I have a final question for Mr. Fitzgerald. If the State decided to provide some private operators, given the ties they have in England where there are some big operators, with the moneys required here, for example, between €2.5 million to €3 million per year, would there be an incentive for them to come over and set up something that would create jobs here and, perhaps,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Farm Plastics Recycling: Discussion (18 May 2021)

Mr. James Fitzgerald: Yes, I think so, where credit advances are made.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Farm Plastics Recycling: Discussion (18 May 2021)

Michael Collins: First, I am involved in farming, but it is only the wrap bales I am involved with - the smaller cycle of work. I thank Mr. Fitzgerald for appearing before the committee. It has been three years since concerns of a critical nature that there was going to be a problem down the road were highlighted. There have been a few Ministers in that time, and some of them went as far as saying that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Farm Plastics Recycling: Discussion (18 May 2021)

Mr. James Fitzgerald: To address the Deputy's last point regarding the Repak model first, in a way what has happened here has been the result of an unpredictable evolution of things since the waste management legislation was introduced. Originally, there was no market at all for farm plastics, pellets or the like. That has developed, but it was an ad hocdevelopment of the system. The...