Seanad debates

Wednesday, 5 February 2003

Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed).

 

The Minister referred to supermarket trolleys, for which I was reluctant to force customers to pay. However, we were eventually embarrassed into doing so when two of our trolleys were found on the road and we were accused, quite rightly, of littering. We were guilty because we had allowed customers to take trolleys off the supermarket premises and they had been left by the roadside. Eventually, we grasped the nettle – as the Minister is now doing – and put a refundable deposit charge on the trolleys. We came up with the idea of providing a token for customers to use, although we could not be too generous with it because the system would be abused. The charging system for supermarket trolleys has been accepted, although it required a campaign to convince the public to take such steps. Members of the public may not like it, as happened initially with the plastic bag levy, but when they see the benefits they appreciate them.

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