New and ambitious targets to tackle waste and move towards a ‘circular economy’ are part of the new National Waste Policy 2020-2025 announced by the government.

A single use plastics ban will apply from July 2021, embracing cotton bud sticks, cutlery, plates, stirrers, chopsticks, straws, polystyrene containers and oxo-degradable plastic products. And there’s a commitment to ban further products such as non-medical wet wipes, single use hotel toiletries, and single use sachets for sugar and the like, and sauces such as ketchup or mayonnaise.

The plan includes halving food waste by 2030, the introduction of a deposit and return scheme for plastic bottles and cans,  and a levy on disposable cups. 

Other measures include applying green criteria and circular economy principles in all public procurement, a waste recovery levy to encourage recycling, and ensuring all packaging is reusable or recyclable by 2030.

Environment minister Eamon Ryan  (pictured) said: “Our current model of production and consumption is unsustainable in terms of resource use, waste disposal, climate change and loss of biodiversity.  What we need to do is rethink our relationship with our stuff – how we produce it, use it and dispose of it. This plan sets out how we will go about that in a way that benefits people and planet.

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“Every sector, every household, every business, and organisation across Ireland has a role to play in the transition to a circular economy. Through increased awareness, better-informed consumption decisions and buy-in to a shared responsibility, Ireland can become a leader in this field delivering environmental, social and economic benefits.”

It’s not clear how any extra costs to business due to the measures will be balanced out by gains from their implementation, but data from countries which have already moved towards a circular economy indicate that increased costs in the short term tend to be outweighed by savings on energy and other resources in the longer term.

According to minister Ryan, the overarching theme of the plan is to shift the focus away from waste disposal and treatment, in order to ensure materials and products remain in productive use for longer — preventing waste and supporting re-use.

Among the objectives that must be reached to achieve this will be: 

• To make producers who manufacture and sell disposable goods for profit environmentally accountable for the products they place on the market
• To ensure that measures support sustainable economic models (for example, by supporting the use of recycled over virgin materials)
• To harness the reach and influence of all sectors including the voluntary sector, R&D, producers / manufacturers, regulatory bodies, civic society
• To support clear and robust institutional arrangements for the waste sector, including through a strengthened role for local authorities.
• To encourage recycling and reuse, environmental levies will be introduced for items such as single-use coffee cups and for general waste recovery, with a waste oversight body to manage consumer rights, and education and awareness campaign to improve waste segregation.

Ryan added: “We can’t go on like this. An EPA report report found that approximately 70% of all waste in residual bins from the commercial sector could potentially be diverted to either recycling or brown bins. This new policy will require us to move beyond a position of merely managing waste to where we question our use of resources and materials, how to reconsider product design to reduce waste, and how we extend the productive life of the goods and products that we use.”

There is more detail here.

Photo: RollingNews.ie