Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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154. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if his Department has noticed an increase in failure of private operators of clothing recycling banks to empty these banks in local authorities across the country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6006/25]

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Textile banks located around the country are provided and managed by local authorities, the charity sector and a number of private operators.

In relation to local authority textile banks, I understand that local authorities have contracts or arrangements in place with commercial operators managing the banks and there can be servicing issues, due to high volumes of material being deposited and/or the frequency of collections to meet those demands. This can lead to periods where banks are full and cannot accept further material.

Local authorities and charities are reporting that the used textile collection system is currently under particular strain due to adverse international trading conditions caused by wars and currency crises. My Department and the local authority sector are monitoring the situation closely to help maintain business continuity.

My Department is committed to resolving these challenges which are local and global in nature. Ireland uses the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) model for dealing with a number of waste streams and has developed six Producer Responsibility Initiatives (PRIs), based on the ‘producer pays’ principle. This is where producers have responsibility to finance the collection and environmentally sound waste management of their products at end of life. An EPR scheme for textiles under EU legislation is expected to become mandatory by 2027 and this will fund textile collection and management more reliably. My Department has already started the foundational work for an Irish EPR scheme.