Mary Henry (Independent)

I welcome the Minister to the House. He will be aware of my interest in the subject of waste management and I welcome what he had to say in his contribution.

I am a great believer in the policies that have been put forward for reducing and recycling waste but the House should make an effort to implement the policies it is suggesting to individuals outside the House. It is the effort of so many individuals that has caused the significant reduction in household waste and packaging.

I have raised this issue before in the House. I ask the Minister to insist that all ministerial speeches are printed on both sides of the paper. This would halve the amount of paper used by Departments. Unfortunately, documents of this House are printed on one side of the paper only. It would be a significant start if the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government printed its documents on both sides.

As the Progressive Democrats have been mentioned already, I refer to the frequent request of former Senator Máirín Quill that Senators only receive copies of reports they request rather than every report which is published. I ask the Acting Chairman to forgive me for raising this issue but now that reports are also published in the Irish language, they are thicker than ever. Senators now receive a large number of reports and due to lack of time rather than interest, many cannot take the opportunity to read them completely either in English or in Irish. I ask the House to consider this point.

At one stage the reuse of large brown envelopes was encouraged. I used to bring my envelopes to the General Office for recycling but this scheme seems to have fallen into abeyance. It was a suggestion of mine that the Houses of the Oireachtas should buy recycled paper for use in the photocopiers and this is used everywhere now.

The efforts made by the public regarding the reduction of waste have been extraordinary. We must be a most adaptable and versatile nation because we took to life without the plastic bag like ducks to water. The amount of litter this measure has done away with is astonishing. It is now very rare to see barbed wire entangled with plastic bags. At one stage the plastic bags on the barbed wire were so thick it provided good shelter. These bags were a curse on the nation and they frequently harmed animals.

One of the most depressing aspects of our dependency on landfill was that very often some of the best land in the country was used as landfill where it was adjacent to large conurbations. I listen with terror to some of the suggestions for the opening-up of landfill in north County Dublin when one considers the extent and importance of horticulture in that region.

I understand the concerns expressed about incineration. The real problem with incinerators is not the health hazards but rather that they do not encourage people to minimise waste. It is too easy to keep creating waste if one believes it will all be burned. The dioxins from a well-maintained incinerator are far less than those from bonfires which, although illegal, are still very enthusiastically used by some people.

I am indebted to a lady from the Wicklow waste management facility who was speaking on the "Today with Pat Kenny" programme recently. She listed how the various forms of plastics can be reused. Some plastics have additives and others have nylon linings. These plastics are then almost impossible to recycle. Is the Minister in a position to encourage manufacturers to use recyclable plastic wherever possible? She pointed out that if yogurts were sold in glass rather than in plastic containers, they could be reused if returned to the shop. This might be a possibility because people have become very good at using the bring centres.

The Minister referred to the bring centres and they are a success. I cannot speak too highly of the two centres in Bath Avenue and Ringsend. This is the place where the chattering classes go on Saturday afternoons in Dublin 4, bringing along their bits and pieces. The centres are beautifully kept. I have never seen them in the state of other centres referred to by Senator Kitt where bottle banks are overflowing. My local centres have always been kept in perfect order and I compliment them.

It was a little depressing to read in the newspapers that all the tetra pack and plastic cartons which one had so carefully segregated were in fact re-mixed in some sites. If the public is being encouraged to segregate waste, then a great effort should be made to promote this new industry of recycling. It was interesting to hear how much of our plastic waste is exported to China where it can be made into other sorts of plastic materials, such as various types of cloth.

Polystyrene is a curse of a product. It does not appear to be possible to do anything with it. Is the Minister aware of any means to minimise its use? I acknowledge it is a very useful packaging material and it protects items from breakage. I suggest that bubble pack which is recyclable could be used instead. I ask the Minister to consider punitive taxes on the use of polystyrene. If one piece of polystyrene breaks, it goes everywhere and it is very difficult to clean up.

The Minister referred to the significant improvement in the reuse of construction and demolition materials. I recently had a small amount of work carried out at my home by a company who then informed me it was my responsibility to dispose of the bits of electrical wiring and plaster which were left over from their work. I had the impression that the customer is always in the wrong by the time I had finished discussing this with them. Is it the customer's responsibility to deal with leftover demolition products?

The Minister will be aware of my interest in the subject of the disposal of tyres, as I raised this matter on the Adjournment. I was depressed to hear Senator Bannon state that the only facility for dealing with these tyres has closed down due to lack of supply, which was previously discussed in this House. During that debate, I made the point that farmers in Northern Ireland must pay a fee to retain a certain number of tyres on their land for use over silage pits and so forth. Will the Minister consider this method? The fee is not excessive, approximately £250, but its use might mean that tyres are not dumped on farms.

The scandal of the dumping of electrical appliances in vast numbers in west Dublin should be examined. We must ensure that the national enforcement network has all the powers and manpower as well as money required to stop this practice.

I noted with interest the publication by a newspaper the other day of the names of those fined under the Litter Act. It is clear, given that several names cropped up several times, that more than a fine is required to get certain people to desist from their wilful ways.

It is vital that we deal with toxic waste because we cannot continue to move it around Europe or elsewhere. Hospital waste is another serious problem. It is disgraceful that it has ended up on illegal dumps. Anyone who produces toxic waste, including hospital waste, must ensure it is properly disposed of as it could seriously damage water courses. While disposing of waste in quarries appears to be an easy solution, it may affect water courses, as was the case in County Tipperary.

The Minister may have heard a doctor from the Irish Medical Organisation point out on radio this morning the serious problems which could arise due to uncollected rubbish being left on streets. They are primarily caused by rats attacking the rubbish which could lead to the development of problems such as Weil's disease. Infection can spread through rat bites or rat urine on products such as rubbish bags and bins and so forth. Rubbish collection should be paid for in view of the fact that we no longer pay rates but what does the Minister propose to do as regards those who refuse to pay?