Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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Question 586: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government his views on a compulsory financial deposit on all drink cans, mineral bottles, sweet and ice-cream wrapping, cigarette boxes, fast food wrapping and so on with a view of solving the escalating problem of irresponsible dispersal of litter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23845/07]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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Directive 94/62/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on packaging and packaging waste is based on the concept of producer responsibility, which effectively requires 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. Practical implementation of the Directive in Ireland is organised mainly through a collective industry-based compliance scheme operated by Repak Limited which is working successfully. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reported in its National Waste Report 2005 — published in January 2007 — that packaging waste recovery increased to 59.9% in that year, indicating that Ireland continues to exceed the current target recovery rate of 50% set by the Packaging Directive. This compares with a recovery rate of 14.8% in 1998.

I fully recognise that despite progress on recycling we need to continue to improve our performance. The Programme for Government commits us to establishing new ambitious waste management targets for maximum prevention, reuse and recycling with a view to ensuring that we match the best performance in the EU with the objective that only 10% or less is consigned to landfill as opposed to the current rate of 66%. The Programme also provides for a comprehensive review of waste management planning, which I have directed my Department to initiate. This review will ensure that our waste management plans reflect best international practice and that we have the policies and infrastructure to meet ambitious environmental objectives.

While I do not consider that it would be practical to apply deposits to some of the products suggested in the Question, e.g. sweet and ice-cream wrappings, the review will look at the desirability of other producer responsibility schemes, including deposit and refund for beverage containers. In the interim, I have recently challenged industry to develop appropriate measures to address packaging waste litter, in particular in relation to beverage containers. At present, the arrangements for recovering packaging waste from consumers and householders consist principally of segregated collections for dry recyclables and an extensive network of bring banks and civic amenity sites. My Department will continue to discuss these issues in the context of finalising a four-year strategy for the packaging waste sector which is currently being developed under the aegis of the National Strategy Group on Packaging Waste Recycling which is representative of the relevant public and private sector stakeholders.

Other measures to tackle littering are being adopted. I recently announced an increase in the on-the-spot litter fine from €125 to €150 with effect from the end of September 2007. In 2006, my Department entered into a negotiated agreement with the chewing gum industry for a programme, funded entirely by industry, to tackle chewing gum litter. This initiative is on going and to date has included a range of public awareness campaigns and education programmes to raise understanding of the impact of gum litter and encourage proper gum disposal.

Following negotiations between my Department and the banking sector, an agreement was launched in January 2007 to reduce ATM advice slip litter pollution. The agreement contains measures including changes in the software on ATM machines to help reduce the number of receipts generated, provision of an on-screen message reminding customers to dispose of their advice slips responsibly and sign-up by the banks to a suite of good housekeeping measures to deal with litter around their branches. Negotiations with the fast food industry are ongoing, with IBEC, who have established a "food on the go" working group, acting as the umbrella body for the industry. At this stage, my Department is seeking a specific set of costed proposals from relevant parties that could form the basis for a multi-annual agreement.