Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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Question 220: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the percentage of glass which is recycled here; if his Department has investigated introducing a deposit system for glass to encourage recycling through shops such as those operating successfully in countries such as Germany; the reason for introducing such a scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44291/08]

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 (the Packaging Directive) 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 original 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 National Waste Report 2006 states that packaging waste recovery increased to 57.3% 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. Directive 2004/12/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council amending the Packaging Directive introduces a new increased packaging waste recovery target of 60% (with 55% by way of recycling) as well as material specific recycling targets for glass, paper/board, metals, plastics and wood. These targets, including the glass packaging recycling target of 60%, have to be achieved by Ireland by 2011. The recycling rate for glass packaging in 2006 was 62.1%.

I fully recognise that despite progress on recycling we need to continue to improve our performance. The Programme for Government commits us to a comprehensive review of waste management planning, which I initiated in July 2008. 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. The review is also looking at the desirability of other producer responsibility schemes, including deposit and refund for beverage containers.