Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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188. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the way in which a company's (details supplied) charges compare to similar schemes in other EU countries. [22918/18]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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The fee structure of the company in question is based on the principle of producer responsibility and is designed to ensure that the cost of recovery of packaging waste is spread on an equitable basis. The key elements of that principle are that responsibility is shared across the supply chain and that producers contribute to national recycling in accordance with the amount and type of packaging they place on the market.

Scheme members who place smaller amounts of packaging on the market pay a once-yearly membership fee, based on a schedule of turnover/tonnage bands determined by Scheme, in consultation with industry and trade associations. Larger producers pay fees based on tonnage and different packaging materials are charged at individual rates, reflecting the level of subsidy required to ensure that those materials are recovered.  

Businesses are consistently looking to reduce their product costs and the schemes fee structure is designed to discourage companies from producing excess packaging.

Fees paid by producers in other EU countries vary greatly from one country to another, depending on the Extended Producer Responsibility model in place.  Different countries have different markets, funding models, collection and treatment infrastructure. Therefore, it is not entirely appropriate to compare fees. The EU Commission in its publication “Development of Guidance on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)”outlined the average range of producer fees across the EU.  Producer fees ranged from approximately €17 per tonne in the UK to almost €200 per tonne in Austria. In Ireland, the average fee per tonne charged to producers was approximately €45 per tonne.

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/pdf/target_review/Guidance%20on%20EPR%20-%20Final%20Report.pdf