Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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880. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government further to a Topical Issues debate on 26 March 2015, if he will reply to the points he made, in the Minister's absence, to the Minister of State at the Department of Social Protection with special responsibility for Activation Dublin, Deputy Kevin Humphreys, regarding the new proposal for disposal of waste tyres; the reason a company (details supplied) was appointed as the sole agent without going through a normal tendering process; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29089/15]

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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881. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the reason he issued pre-conditions to his officials before consultations began with a tyre industry company (details supplied), namely that the company would run the system and he would set the fee; the need for full principles of responsible investment and a full reporting system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29090/15]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 880 and 881 together.

My Department has been in discussions with representatives of the tyre sector for approximately fifteen years in order to achieve a system which delivers an appropriate environmental outcome for this waste stream. At the time of their commencement, my Department made clear to the industry that the 2007 Tyre Regulations were the last opportunity for the tyre industry to address, in a comprehensive manner, issues associated with waste tyres. That opportunity was not taken and the structure introduced by the 2007 Regulations has not worked as a result.

The Producer Responsibility Initiative (PRI) review report on Tyres and Waste Tyres published by my Department concluded that the current system for dealing with waste tyres is not functioning as intended, with a lack of basic information, poor structure, poor environmental outcomes in the form of large stockpiles of waste tyres, and somewhere between 24% and 50% of waste tyres unaccounted for. The report also identified significant non-compliance among those with responsibilities under the current Waste Tyre Regulations.

In February 2015, I announced a move to a full Producer Responsibility Initiative (PRI) for tyres which will aim to rectify the deficiencies which have been identified in the current system. The new PRI scheme for tyres will comprise the following main features:

- A single compliance scheme for end-of-life tyres to be operated by Repak,

- The ending of the option to “self-comply” under the Regulations,

- Formalisation of the existing recycling charge charged by tyre retailers into a visible environmental management charge,

- The level of this visible environmental charge would be set by my Department and reviewed in two years,

- As part of the detailed design of the scheme, consideration by my Department, in consultation with the tyres and waste industry, as to whether the funding model is predicated upon a front-loaded or back-loaded model,

- A full audit and registration and reporting component (‘black box’) with a role for the WEEE Register Society, and

- An underpinning of the new regime, including enforcement and compliance measures, by a robust legislative base, including fixed penalty notices for certain breaches.

The new arrangements that I am proposing and developing in conjunction with tyre industry representatives through the Tyres Working Group will ensure that all of the financial contribution by the consumer will go towards the environmental management of waste tyres. It will also provide greater clarity, which is not currently available, around where the funding goes. The proposed charge is therefore a formalisation of an existing charge into a visible environmental management charge. The level of this charge will be set by my Department, in consultation with the tyre industry, and will be reviewed two years after its introduction.

I want to end the current system in which the taxpayer pays twice and has insufficient clarity on where either their contribution or their waste tyres go and replace it with a system that is based on the principle of producer responsibility for tyres, which operates successfully in the majority of EU Member States, and a system that is operated by an existing compliance scheme, which has a long track record of delivering on Ireland’s packaging recycling targets.