Noel Coonan (Tipperary North, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the opportunity cost, in terms of employment in the recycling and resource recovery industry, when untreated waste electrical and electronic equipment is exported for recycling; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43984/12]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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The Government’s new waste policy, A Resource Opportunity - Waste Management Policy in Ireland, published in July 2012, sets out the actions through which Ireland will make the further progress necessary to become a recycling society, with a clear focus on resource efficiency and the virtual elimination of landfilling of municipal waste. The policy contains measures to ensure that the management of waste will be in accordance with the waste hierarchy, as set out in the Waste Framework Directive, whereby prevention, reuse, recycling, recovery are favoured to the disposal of waste. Maximising the resources recovered from waste is a central principle of the policy.

Under the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive, financing the environmentally sound management of waste electrical and electronic equipment, including recycling, is solely a producer responsibility. Waste destined for recovery/recycling is, subject to environmental controls, a freely tradable commodity and cannot be directed into indigenous facilities. Approved bodies are however required to consider the impact their operations have on climate change, on the reduction of greenhouse gases by minimising transport and how Ireland can secure credit for savings in CO₂ emissions that derive from recycling activity. It is my understanding that part of the business strategies of both Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment compliance schemes, WEEE Ireland and ERP Ireland, is to provide commercially viable solutions for their members that support local service providers for the treatment of WEEE wherever possible.

The Government’s new waste policy contains measures to improve the quality of recycling and resource recovery from waste and thus provide greater opportunities for Irish industry to exploit this resource. While we must accept that our relative size will place some limits on the scope for a comprehensive recycling infrastructure, I fully support efforts to reduce our dependence on overseas recycling operations and provide local facilities with local employment that can provide cost effective solutions to WEEE producers.

To this end, as part of the review of the Producer Responsibility Initiative (PRI) agreements, I have requested an examination of all further measures which could be undertaken to support the development of indigenous reprocessing capacity for PRI waste, as well as the issue of a reuse policy for Electrical and Electronic Equipment. Reuse, and the preparation for reuse of Electrical and Electronic Equipment, has the potential to deliver environmental, economic and social benefits. This review is at an advanced stage and I look forward to considering its recommendations with regard to the development of an indigenous recycling industry that respects the principles of proximity and self-sufficiency.