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

I thank Senator Boylan for bringing forward a constructive environmental Bill. I am very happy to see any Senator bring forward constructive suggestions on how to make a better environment. I am going to say, for a start, that the Government shares the objectives of this legislation. I have spoken to my colleagues and we are not going to oppose this Bill for this reason.

It is an affront to people who are responsibly and dutifully sorting through their waste in their kitchens to see perfectly good products being destroyed by large and wealthy companies. It is clearly unfair and destroys the motivation and sense of solidarity among people to tackle this problem. It is for this reason that I signed regulations last month that came into effect on 1 July requiring all businesses and commercial operators to segregate their waste. Many companies were previously only using one bin. When we looked at the contents of the black bins coming from company waste, it was found that 70% of the material was either recyclable or was biowaste. There will be, therefore, a major increase in the segregated waste streams coming from businesses. I did this because they have the same responsibility as individuals to play their part in helping us to achieve a circular economy.

The Senator is also absolutely right to look to other jurisdictions to see how they are approaching what are global problems. It was with that aspect in mind that I met Bérangère Couillard, who is my equivalent as the minister with responsibility for the circular economy in France. I asked her about her experience with different approaches she has taken to deal with the problems of reaching a circular economy. She has brought in legislation that prohibits the destruction of new products where there is extended producer responsibility, EPR, such as in the context of the waste electrical and electronic equipment, WEEE, charge when we buy electronics. This measure does allow the manufacturer and the seller to recycle the product. It does not require that such products be reused or resold. It will also apply to other, non-EPR, products starting next year. We are looking at how this will work in practice and I will stay in close contact with her on this.

In progressing legislation, we must ensure that measures intended to support the circular economy are as effective as possible, that they can influence product supply chains far beyond our island and that they ensure a level playing field for Irish businesses. I say this because there is the risk that if we tell companies here that they cannot destroy perfectly good products they will put those products into a container and ship them to their partners in another country where there is different legislation in place and we will simply move the problem from one country to another. It is with this in mind that we are working on European legislation. It is not a directive. European directives require that they be transposed locally, and the Senator may know this already, in each member state. This initiative, though, is being undertaken as a regulation, which will mean that when it passes, it will have immediate effect. It has been agreed in the European Parliament and by the European Council, so we are at the final stage of the trilogue, which will happen later this summer.

As I said, when it is agreed, it will have immediate effect. It makes sense to take a co-ordinated approach on this matter because of the problem of moving goods across borders. When looking at the problem of plastic pollution, for example, we found the vast majority of such plastics have been crossing borders during their lifetimes. This movement of products across borders is a problem and requires a multi-jurisdictional approach. Clearly, we cannot get an answer that is 100% perfect. How can we force a factory in China, for example, not to destroy clothing? It does make sense, however, to put work into a co-ordinated approach.

I will bring the House up to speed on where we are with the ecodesign for sustainable products regulation, the ESPR, which is the European Commission's proposal for an ecodesign for sustainable products regulation, which was published on 30 March 2022. This is part of the European Green Deal. The main objectives of this initiative are to reduce the negative life cycle environmental impacts of products and to improve the functioning of the Internal Market. The ESPR is a framework regulation. It will set out requirements for how products should be made. These detailed requirements are not yet known, but they will be coming into force in the coming months and years through secondary EU legislation. The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment has been leading for Ireland on this matter in the negotiations in Brussels, with additional significant ongoing inputs from the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications and other national stakeholders drawn from the public sector organisations, including the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, the Revenue and others.

More than 20 meetings related to ecodesign were held under the recent Swedish and Czech EU Presidencies. A common approach among member states, known as the general approach, was agreed by the Competitiveness Council at its meeting held on 22 May 2023. Throughout the negotiations, Ireland argued that as a smaller member state our ability to influence international supply chains was more limited and that the EU should move together as one bloc on this important policy issue. Chapter 6 of the draft ESPR concerns the destruction of unsold consumer products and it is worth noting that of all the aspects of the proposed regulation, this perhaps generated the most diversity of opinion during the negotiations with other member states. Some member states wanted stronger provisions in the framework, while others wanted fewer. Ireland strongly supported the introduction of a general principle prohibiting the destruction of unsold consumer goods.

The issues related to the destruction of unsold goods in the textiles industry and the negative impacts of fast fashion are well known and have rightly been highlighted by the Senators. Ultimately, therefore, in a spirit of compromise and despite strongly diverging views among member states, a general approach was agreed that included an explicit prohibition against the destruction of unsold consumer products that are apparel or clothing accessories but not for other product types. This common position foresees that the prohibition for unsold goods in other product categories will need to be developed over time through detailed and product-specific regulations under the ESPR framework.

Trilogue negotiations on the ESPR will now take place between the Spanish Presidency and the European Parliament. These are expected to start either during or after the summer.In anticipation of an agreement, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is already undertaking a regulatory impact assessment to inform decisions about how best to implement ESPR in Ireland and to ensure adequate market surveillance. Thus, as I have argued, the most effective anti-dumping response would be at EU level. That would provide a clear signal to manufacturers and retailers right across the Single Market and to those around the world looking to sell products into that market. This approach plays to Ireland's strengths in that it delivers impact far broader than a national approach could. It also ensures manufacturers based in Ireland are operating on a level playing field in Europe and facing similar regulations and costs to their competitors.

We should also remember what we are talking here are products and not waste materials and as such it would be relatively easy for products to be shipped out of Ireland to another member state with less stringent rules where they could be dumped or destroyed. This Bill would not prevent that scenario, nor indeed could any set of purely national measures, given the existence of the Single Market. The Single Market can be a powerful tool in shaping global production practices, retail standards and circularity of materials and common rules across member states help support that outcome. Ireland should therefore advocate for strong environmental standards alongside a transparent and open market and that is what we have been doing with the ESPR. We should allow the current EU negotiations to conclude and once we can see what provisions will be in place at EU level we will consider whether additional national measures such as those proposed in this Private Members' Bill are required.