Council backs antiplastic levy

SLIGO County Council has given its backing to a new levy on take-away cups and micro-plastics in skincare products.

It’s after members agreed with a motion tabled by Independent Councillor Declan Bree at last week’s County Council meeting.

“Every day in Ireland over 500,000 single use cups and 2.5 million bottles are disposed of through landfill and incineration instead of being recycled,” Cllr Bree told the meeting.

“There is a better way through prevention, recycling and composting and it is clear that the government needs to move on progressive policy to address the environmental and economic costs associated with plastic pollution and to adopt incentives to change corporate and individual consumption patterns.

“The Waste Reduction Bill which is currently being debated in the Dáil would ban plastic cups, plates, and cutlery. It would also establish a deposit/ refund scheme for glass, plastic and aluminium drinks containers,” he said.

“Single Use Plastics have been identified as one of the leading causes of plastic pollution in our environment.

“Many of these items have sustainable alternatives and there has been an international outcry to ban certain plastic products. The list outlined in the Waste Reduction Bill mirrors the list currently proposed in the EU Single Use Plastic legislation.

“In addition it must be pointed out that Ireland uses and disposes of 200 million take-away coffee cups annually.

We need to introduce a two tier levy system which will not only encourage behavioural change,

IT is estimated that in the first year, such a levy could raise around €20 million per annum. IT is anticipated that this amount will reduce over time.