Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 531: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he has received or undertaken any report into the operation of Repak in respect of the total revenue raised; the percentage of the value of product covered by the packaging directives which this represents and the extent to which this is acting as an equitable contribution to the problem of packaging disposal against a background of the public having been required in recent years to more than quadruple their contribution to the cost of the waste disposal. [5036/05]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 533: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government his views on strategies to encourage manufacturers and retailers to reduce packaging waste; if he will consider changing the existing regulatory provisions which provide that members of Repak are not required to take back packaging waste, particularly in view of the great difficulty in built-up areas such as Dublin city in identifying sufficient sites for bring centres that are convenient for the public; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5038/05]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 531 and 533 together.

Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste is based on the principle of producer responsibility, which is intended to require producers to contribute to the waste management costs of products which they have placed on the market at end of life. Under the directive, Ireland was required to achieve a 25% recovery rate of packaging waste by 1 July 2001, increasing to a 50% recovery rate by 31 December 2005, with a minimum of 25% to be achieved by recycling, including a minimum 15% recycling rate for each type of packaging material. The directive is transposed into national legislation by the Waste Management (Packaging) Regulations 2003, as amended, which replaced earlier regulations introduced in 1997.

Under the regulations, "major producers" of packaging waste, that is, manufacturers, importers, distributors, wholesalers and retailers, representing all participants in the packaging chain, who place more than 25 tonnes of packaging on the market each year and who have an annual turnover exceeding €1 million, excluding VAT, are required to take steps individually to recover their packaging waste, that is, self-compliance or, alternatively, to contribute to and participate in compliance schemes set up to recover packaging waste. Repak Limited was established by Irish industry in 1997 to promote, co-ordinate and finance the collection and recovery of packaging waste with a view to achieving Ireland's packaging waste recovery and recycling targets under the directive and is the only such approved compliance scheme in Ireland. Repak membership income is used to subsidise the collection of packaging waste from both the household and commercial sectors. In the household sector, a subsidy is provided towards the collection of packaging waste from bring banks and civic amenity recycling centres as well as segregated kerbside collection of packaging waste from households. Over 560,000 households or approximately 42% of all households nationally are now served by segregated collection.

Repak has reported consistent progress since 1997 and in 2001 Ireland met the 25% packaging waste recovery target required by the directive. The Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, has reported in its national waste database interim report for 2003 — published in December 2004 — that packaging waste recovery has increased to an estimated 42% in that year, indicating that Ireland is on course to meet the higher recovery and recycling targets for end 2005. While Repak's primary role is to support the recycling of packaging waste rather than packaging minimisation, the fees structure applicable to its members which is related to the type and amount of packaging placed on the market reflects the polluter pays principle and directly incentivises the minimisation and reuse of packaging by producers. As undertaken in An Agreed Programme for Government and in my Department's 2002 policy document, Delivering Change, a national waste prevention programme was launched last year. The roll-out of this programme, co-ordinated and led by the EPA with funding support from the environment fund, will assist in delivering substantial results on waste prevention and minimisation across all waste streams.

Under the terms of its approval as an approved compliance scheme under the regulations, Repak is required to submit an annual report on its operations to my Department, including annual financial accounts indicating details of income raised and expenditure incurred. The most recent annual report submitted was in respect of 2003; the 2004 annual report is required to be submitted by the end of May 2005. In the light of the significant increase in packaging waste collected for recycling in recent years which has resulted in increased subsidy payments to waste collectors, Repak has increased its membership fees by an average of 7% in 2004 and an average of 19% in 2005. In the absence of Repak subsidisation of the household segregated collection service, household waste charges would be considerably greater than are being applied by service providers.

The regulations exempt major producers who are participating in the Repak scheme from having to take back packaging waste from consumers. This exemption is the main incentive to join the collective scheme and thereby contribute to the funding of recycling activities. Removal of the exemption would be likely to undermine the scheme and, given that the existing regulatory arrangements are achieving the desired result in relation to meeting the directive's recovery and recycling targets, such a measure is not under consideration.

A significant number of retail outlets affiliated to the Repak scheme have voluntarily allowed bring banks to be located in their car parks. In the absence of such good corporate responsibility, the bring bank network would be significantly diminished.