The Irish government hopes its radical new measures will give it a chance to turn around the country's poor performance on packaging recovery and reach looming European targets.
Although the European Directive on Packaging and Packaging Waste had provided lower targets for Ireland than for most other Member States, Ireland is still in dire straits, with a 50% target approaching in just two years' time.
It has been claimed that the country has reached its 25% by 2001 target, recycling 230,000 tonnes of packaging waste in that year compared to 93,000 tonnes in 1998, but there is still a long way to go for Ireland.
Draft regulations, which will be published shortly, will call for Irish manufacturing and retail businesses to segregate their packaging waste – including paper, glass and metals – and ensure it is collected for recycling by “authorised waste collectors”.
Announcing the move, the Irish government environment minister Martin Cullen said: “These new Packaging Regulations will lead to a dramatic change in the way we deal with our packaging waste. In effect, they will ensure that any commercial waste which can be recycled, will be recycled. Disposal will not be an option.”
Difficulties
The new regulations – measures that have been considered for the UK by the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit – will help Ireland's only approved packaging waste compliance scheme, Repak, reach its targets. The not-for-profit organisation was set up in 1997, after the introduction of the Waste Management (Packaging) Regulations of that year, to co-ordinate collection and recovery of packaging waste from its paying member companies.
There has been some difficulties at Repak in reaching its targets, but the environment minister believes the new regulations will go some way to solving its problems.
“Publication of the Regulations in draft form will give the business sector a good lead in time to facilitate the making of the necessary arrangements to ensure compliance with the new regime,” Mr Cullen said.
He added: “The draft Regulations contain changes which I consider are necessary to achieve the 2005 target for the recovery of 50% of packaging waste. We have already achieved the 2001 target of 25% but we must now move up a gear to double this amount.”
Click here for the Repak website
Click here for the Irish Ministry for the Environment and Local Government website.
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