The historic political alliance that gave the Greens bargaining power and drive to meet the EU’s tough recycling targets sparked a political clash between Holyrood and Westminster, which came into force on February 1. This resulted in a similar plan.
Ireland’s plans do not include glass, and Colin O’Byrne, program manager for environmental charity Voice Ireland, insists that simplification is what keeps the plans on track.
He also credits bipartisan efforts and the participation of industry and the public for making the plan a reality, but the introduction of deposit costs for plastics and aluminum will not be smooth sailing and will vary depending on the situation. He also acknowledged that it ranges from 15 cents to 25 cents. container size.
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Ireland’s plan would be the 41st in the world and the 15th in Europe to be implemented.
Holyrood’s attempt to introduce glass has become a political bread war after the UK government refused to grant a glass exception in the Internal Market Act (IMA).
By contrast, Ireland and other European countries are moving forward with deposit return schemes to meet the requirements of the bloc’s Single-Use Plastics Directive and its tough targets. Member states are required to collect 77% of single-use plastic bottles with caps and lids by 2025, with a final target of 90% by 2029.
Mr O’Byrne (below) admits that the scheme encountered some problems in its first few days of operation. Expected technical issues with some vending machines and unexpected issues with some older stock caused confusion.
“It’s going to be fine, no problem, but you only get one chance to make a first impression,” he told The National newspaper.
Mr O’Byrne spearheaded Voice’s Deposit Return Scheme awareness campaign ‘Return for Change’.
Asked whether the scheme would have a disruptive effect on Ireland’s economy, as some have suggested it might do in Scotland, Mr O’Byrne said: answered.
“And it surprises me because we are just as prone to nonsense as the Scots.
“There were a lot of vocal opponents, but one advantage we had over you was that we kept it simple, using only bottles and cans as entry points.”
Boyce has called for glass to eventually be introduced into the project, but it was not prioritized because the material already has high recycling levels. Mr O’Byrne claimed the introduction of glass would give Scotland “more defensive positions” as he sought to get the scheme off the ground.
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“Glass is interesting. There’s no getting away from the fact that it’s very heavy, there’s extra energy and transportation costs associated with that weight, and it can break when handled,” he added.
“We start with plastic bottles and cans, and once that becomes successful and becomes second nature for people doing their daily shopping and other daily tasks, we start to introduce conversations around reuse.”
We spoke about Westminster’s refusal to grant an IMA exemption for glass for Scotland’s DRS in June last year. Circular Economy Minister Lorna Slater (below) will soon tell Holyrood that the scheme will be delayed until at least October 2025, when the UK is due to launch the scheme.
Scottish Greens ministers said at the time that the Scottish Government had been put in an “impossible position” by the Westminster government, which was trying to force businesses to comply with UK-wide regulations that had not been developed or even published. Ta.
Ireland, on the other hand, appears to have benefited from the consensus, with strict EU laws allowing many of the large multi-billion companies involved in the Scottish plan to join, such as Coca-Cola and various supermarkets including Tesco. There is.
“I cannot overstate how important the Single-Use Plastics Draft Directive is to us,” Mr O’Byrne said.
“We know Brexit means leaving the EU, you’re screwed in that respect, but we have legal obligations. It doesn’t matter who’s in power. They put it in place. would have to.
“We have yet to find a better mechanism than a deposit return scheme to achieve that 90%. We hope to come up with something better, so please give it a try. But that was it.”
Mr O’Byrne explained that following the 2020 Irish election, a historic three-party coalition government was formed consisting of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party.
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The Greens were aware of this directive and had a “strong enough hand to play with”, so they pushed for it to be included in the program for government.
“In that respect, the deposit return scheme was a no-brainer,” he explained.
“It wasn’t something that bothered the two major parties too much, and they all left. It’s something we can do and get some recognition for, and it helps our legal health. It will be preserved.”