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asked in the Dáil by Ciarán - Environment
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Dáil Questions
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25 October 2005
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Environment
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Recycling End-destination
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Ciarán Cuffe
asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to the end destination of all packaging collected under a scheme (details supplied). |
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Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government: Repak Limited was established by Irish industry in 1997 to promote, co-ordinate and finance the collection and recovery of packaging waste with a view to achieving Ireland’s packaging waste recovery and recycling targets under the directive and is the only such approved compliance scheme in Ireland. Repak membership income is used to subsidise the collection of packaging waste from both the household and commercial sectors for the purposes of recycling.
The export of waste is regulated by local authorities in accordance with Council Regulation (EEC) No. 259/93, as amended, which provides for a system of supervision and control to apply to shipments of waste within, into and out of the territory of the European Union. Under Regulation 259/93 a distinction is made between waste which is destined for final disposal, such as landfill, or for recovery or recycling. For waste which is specifically destined for recovery, a further distinction is made between: green list waste, Annex II of the regulation; amber list waste, Annex III of the regulation; and red list waste, Annex IV of the regulation.
Waste on each of these lists is connected to a particular control procedure. Shipments of all waste destined for disposal, and shipments of hazardous and semi-hazardous waste destined for recovery, are subject to the requirement of prior written notification and consent. Shipments of non-hazardous waste, namely green list waste, typically clean segregated recyclable waste fractions destined for recovery are not subject to the procedure of prior written notification. Such shipments enjoy unhindered movement within the EU and are only subject to the general information requirement that they be accompanied by certain information and documentation.
Recycled packaging waste material is an internationally traded commodity. Purchasers acquire tonnes of material at a price, which is dependent on market conditions; the material may be for their own direct use or traded a number of times before it reaches the end recycler. I understand that Repak operates a comprehensive internal control programme whereby all claims for packaging waste recovery subsidy are accompanied by source and destination documentation. At least 50% of tonnes subsidised are independently audited by firms of registered auditors. I understand further that according to Repak’s records, which are subject to annual scrutiny by the Environmental Protection Agency, an estimated 479,000 tonnes of packaging waste were subsidised and collected for recovery during 2004.
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CiaranCuffe.com