The Green Party have launched their ‘Waste Reduction Bill 2017’ this week. The Bill includes proposals for new measures with the objective of improving the current state of Ireland’s recycling status. It is known that this year’s Waste Reduction Bill contains two aspects; firstly the introduction of a recycling deposit scheme for plastic bottles, cans and glass bottles. Secondly, the ban of single-use, plastics that cannot be compostable.
Additionally, the proposal includes that Irish consumers will avail of a 10c refund if they bring back a plastic bottle, can or glass bottle. These costs are thought to be levied on the cost of the manufacture for these materials.
The Green Party leader, Eamon Ryan told the press this week that:
We’ve been looking at this for years, the way we do things now is just not working. It is time we introduced something a little different.
Back in the day, you used to be able to bring back your glass bottles and get sixpence or similar for it. We’re now looking at doing the same here.
Similar types of schemes have been very successful in other European countries such as the Netherlands, Sweden and Finland. The Green Party stated that the Irish society would make an economic net gain through employment that would be created by implementing this scheme as well as a reduction in litter control and compliance with EU Directives. It is expected that this type of net gain would be along the lines of over €65 million per year once the scheme is implemented.
The leader of the Green Party, Eamon Ryan stated that the EPA Waste Packaging Statistics for 2013 saw only 40% of plastic packaging used by the Irish public was recycled. This is a shockingly low statistics which greatly illustrates Ireland’s need for Incentivisation as the majority of Ireland’s plastic is still going to local landfills to be dumped.
This new Bill is hoping to change the way Ireland’s uses their materials and the environment for the long-term.
The Little Owl 