Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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130. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if the exemption to the waste recovery levy for C and D will be removed; if so, when this is proposed to commence; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23363/24]

Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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131. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if the exemption to the waste recovery levy for C and D is coming to an end, how much per tonne will be charged on this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23364/24]

Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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132. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment what is proposed for 2025/2026 for waste recovery levy for C and D; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23365/24]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 130 to 132, inclusive, together.

Under the Waste Action Plan for A Circular Economy, I introduced a Waste Recovery Levy of €10/tonne on the 1st September 2023. The intention of the waste recovery levy is to encourage higher value waste management practices by moving material management up the waste hierarchy from waste recovery to more recycling and re-use and to encourage greater efforts to segregate waste at source.

Construction and Demolition (C&D) is the fastest growing waste stream, accounting for over half of the total waste currently being generated in Ireland with only 8% being recycled or reused, and most being backfilled. Given that substantial volumes of this weight are potentially preventable, re-usable or recyclable it presents a significant opportunity for Ireland’s transition to a more circular economy. My Department estimates through embedding greater circularity within the construction sector alone, Ireland’s circularity rate can be doubled.

In line with the commitment in Housing for All, an exemption for C&D waste from the Waste Recovery Levy was initially provided for in the supporting regulations. However, the regulatory landscape for the exemption has now evolved significantly, following the introduction national by-product (prevention and reuse) and end of waste (recycling) decisions for construction materials by the Environment Protection Agency. These decisions allow for usable C&D material to be treated as a resource rather than a waste thereby delivering considerable savings for the construction sector.

As the continued application of the levy exemption for C&D waste is neither tenable nor sustainable, my Department is amending the Waste Recovery Regulations to remove the levy exemptions for C&D waste with effect from 1st September 2024. Therefore, C&D waste that is sent for recovery e.g. incineration or backfilling after the 1st September 2024 will be subject to the waste recovery levy of €10/tonne. The purpose of removing this exemption for C&D waste is to incentivise the construction industry to reduce the amount of C&D waste it currently sends to waste recovery and instead increase the re-use and re-cycling of these materials.

Key stakeholders including the Irish Waste Management Association (IWMA) and the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) have already been notified in relation to the removal of the C&D waste levy exemptions and the local authority system is currently making arrangements for the collection of the waste recovery levy for C&D waste, with effect from 1st September 2024.