Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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Question 156: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he will amend the regulations introduced under the WEEE directive in view of the fact that the operation of the current regulations has placed the greater proportion of the recycling cost of electric and electronic equipment on to the consumer and not on the producer; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30382/05]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The EU directive on waste electrical and electronic equipment, WEEE, required each member state to introduce regulations providing for a producer funded take-back scheme for consumers of end-of-life equipment from 13 August 2005. While the funding of such take-back schemes is a producer responsibility, the directive allows producers, for a transitional period of eight years — ten years for large household appliances — to show purchasers, at the time of sale of new products, the costs of recovery and recycling of historic waste which was put on the market before 13 August 2005. These costs are referred to as environmental management costs, EMCs, and were the subject of detailed discussions between stakeholders, which my Department helped to facilitate.

While there were varying opinions on how the provisions in relation to the historic waste should operate, the majority view among the industry and the independent retail sector, for reasons of fuller transparency and greater accountability, favoured a system of visible EMCs in the manner which has been provided for under the regulations. The design of the new system assures the public that the moneys collected for recycling are assigned for recycling activity and are not diverted elsewhere. It also ensures traceability and financial accountability and, by informing the public in an open way, ensures that profiteering is prevented.

Visible EMCs are designed solely to cover the cost of recycling of WEEE. None of the revenue involved is handled by the Government. The WEEE Register Society Limited, the industry-based national WEEE registration body, will monitor the implementation of the scheme and adjust the visible environmental management costs periodically to ensure that the not-for-profit principle is observed. Producers pay the appropriate EMCs into the producer recycling funds operated by the two approved collective compliance schemes operating in Ireland — WEEE Ireland and the European recycling platform. Visible EMCs are input costs and how they are dealt with in the pricing of products is part of the normal negotiations between producer and retailer.

While the WEEE register will carry out a comprehensive review of all EMC levels after six months to ensure that they are not higher than is necessary to fund the scheme, it has agreed to my request that it look immediately at levels which apply to low cost goods and I expect more realistic levels for them will be set by the end of this month.

Many and important benefits are already flowing from the new WEEE regime. The scheme represents good value for money. The public can either dispose of this waste on one-for-one basis or bring it to their local civic amenity site, free of charge. It provides a cradle-to-grave system for the management of WEEE. The core components of the scheme are working well. Between retail outlets and local authority civic amenity sites WEEE is being collected from more than 100 collection points throughout the country. While further amendment of the WEEE regulations is not envisaged at this stage, my Department is keeping the operation of the new system under continuing review.

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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Question 158: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if, in view of Ireland's poor recycling record, competition between packaging recycling scheme approved bodies will be beneficial. [30414/05]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Ireland has a strong track record in meeting targets for the recovery of packaging waste. Under Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste, 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 2001 target was achieved and current indications are that the 2005 target will also be met.

Under current 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.

Given that Ireland is achieving the required recovery and recycling targets for packaging waste and that major producers may avail of more than one option to comply with their obligations under the regulations, I am of the view that the existing regulatory arrangements make sufficient provision for competition in this area.