Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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Question 120: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he has plans to improve the collection and recycling of plastic in view of the large amount of plastic litter which is to be found in ditches around fields in which silage bale wrap has been used. [1938/05]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Under the Waste Management (Farm Plastics) Regulations 2001, producers — that is, manufacturers and importers — of farm plastics, such as silage bale wrap and sheeting, are required to take steps to recover farm plastics waste which they have placed on the market or alternatively to contribute to, and participate in, compliance schemes to recover the waste in question. The farm plastics recovery scheme operated by the Irish farm film producers group, IFFPG, is the sole approved body in Ireland for the purposes of implementing a compliance scheme for farm plastics waste and has operated successfully to date, funding the collection and recycling of circa 8,500 tonnes of farm plastics in 2004.

Under the IFFPG scheme, producers apply a levy on the sale of farm plastics which in turn is transferred to the IFFPG for use in funding the collection and recovery of farm plastics waste. Manufacturers and importers who do not participate in the approved scheme, that is, self-compliers, are required under the regulations to operate a deposit and refund scheme — equating to a deposit-refund of €254 per tonne of farm plastic purchased-returned — for the collection and recovery of waste plastics, as well as comply with other onerous reporting requirements to local authorities.

With specific regard to the issue of litter, the litter monitoring body, which is co-ordinated by my Department, has published two reports to date, in respect of the years 2002 and 2003, which provide valuable statistical data about litter pollution in Ireland. The latest report, in respect of litter composition in 2003, indicates that plastic sheeting such as silage wrap accounts for 0.02% of litter, down from 0.03% in 2002.

In light of the consistent and steady progress achieved by IFFPG since its inception, I am anxious to build on the success of the farm plastics scheme and my Department will, in consultation with relevant stakeholders, look at ways in which recovery and recycling in this sector can be further developed.