James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

453. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if his Department has examined the effect of six pack plastic can rings on the environment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43503/17]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Our use of plastic has increased exponentially in recent decades. Plastics feature across a wide range of applications and products, such as packaging, construction, electrics and electronics, agriculture, medical and health. The last waste characterisation study carried out by the EPA showed that 12.4% of our household waste, by weight, was plastic.

The effects of plastic pollution, in particular, on the marine environment has been well publicised. My colleague, the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government is responsible for marine environmental policy, including marine litter policy in the first instance. Both he and I recognise that the waste we create on land, and certain plastic waste items, in particular, can represent significant marine litter problems. Accordingly we are working together to identify measures to address this with our European partners in the context of the forthcoming EU Plastics Strategy.

Other initiatives to combat plastic pollution include the National Litter Pollution Monitoring System (NLPMS) Report, which is commissioned by my Department on an annual basis. It can be downloaded at www.litter.ie. The Reports, over the past decade, demonstrate a generally positive trend with regard to litter. Plastic can rings are not recorded specifically in these local authority NLPMS surveys but they are included with other plastic packaging items. As a percentage of litter monitored, plastic packaging items increased from 6.56% in 2015 to 7.73% in 2016. These increases are of concern to me and in 2017 I have taken further action focussed on the litter issue and have significantly increased funding for the Protecting Upland and Rural Environments programme, the An Taisce National Spring Clean, and the Anti-Litter and Awareness Grant Scheme. My Department also provides funding to the EPA for the commissioning of research and has provided €8.75 million for this purpose in 2017. A number of studies on plastics have been completed through this funding stream.