Polluter Pays Principle

Battery recycling

The Batteries Directive adheres that by 2012, producers must collect a quarter of all the batteries they put on the market, with that figure rising to 45% by 2016.

Battery recycling

The Batteries Directive adheres that by 2012, producers must collect a quarter of all the batteries they put on the market, with that figure rising to 45% by 2016.

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A discarded plastic bag

The introduction of a plastic bag levy had an immediate benefit to our environment – with a decrease in excess of 95% in plastic bag litter. Surveys indicated that up to 90% of shoppers used long-life bags in 2003, compared with 36% in 1999.

A discarded plastic bag

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In the last ten years our awareness and policies on waste management have improved. As previously shown the legislative framework is the Waste Management Act 1996, as amended by the Waste Management (Amendment) Act 2001 and the Protection of the Environment Act 2003.

With waste infrastructure and recycling increasing, Government policy has swung towards producer responsibility. This policy puts the burden on Irish householders and businesses to make sure their waste is properly managed. Such obligations were used initially for packaging waste and farm plastic and more recently on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) and tyres.

The one 'polluter pays principle' that most affects people in their everyday lives is the plastic bag levy, which put a 22 cent charge on each plastic bag.

The Batteries Directive (Directive 2006/66/EC on batteries and accumulators) was transposed into Irish law and came into effect in December 2008. The Directive enchances the use of producer liability for waste management.

Around the country, waste is managed by different county councils and more information can be found on the EPA's website in the section on regional waste management plans.

The quantity of packaging waste recovered rose from 65% in 2008 to 70% in 2009. This is greater than the 60% recovery target for 2011 under the Packaging Directive. See the graph below for details (Figure 2).