Ireland's State of the Environment Report 2024

425 Chapter 15: Circular Economy and Waste single-use waste. The proposed levy is a flat rate of €0.20 on all single-use disposable cups and is due to be introduced by the end of 2024. Waste disposal and recovery levies. A waste recovery levy 27 was introduced in September 2023. The measure applies a rate of €10 per tonne to municipal waste recovery operations at landfills, waste-to-energy plants and co-incineration plants and on the export of 27 A review of the waste recovery levy has been commissioned by DECC to examine the option to extend the levy to construction waste. 28 www.gov.ie/en/press-release/b3f2f-minister-smyth-launches-irelands-deposit-return-scheme/#:~:text=It%20is%20estimated%20 that%20about,each%20plastic%20bottle%20or%20can (accessed 24 June 2024). 29 Re-turn.ie (accessed 24 June 2024). municipal waste for recovery abroad. At the same time, an additional €10 per tonne was applied to the existing landfill levy, raising it to €85 per tonne of waste disposed of. These measures are intended to drive behavioural change, encouraging better segregation of waste at source and moving treatment further up the waste hierarchy towards more recycling and reuse activities. Figure 15.14 documents the revenue generated from the plastic bag and landfill levies from 2014 to 2022. Figure 15.14  Plastic bag and landfill levies collected (million euros), 2014–2022 ˜ Plastic Bag Levy collected ˜ Landfill Levy collected 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 12 5 4 4 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 € MILLIONS Deposit return scheme. It is estimated that about 1.9 billion drinks bottles and cans are consumed each year in Ireland. 28 The introduction of the Re-turn 29 deposit return scheme in 2024 aims to boost the recycling of plastic bottles and aluminium cans by charging a small, refundable deposit for each bottle or can. The scheme covers PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic bottles and aluminium and steel cans of between 150 ml and 3 l volume. Deposits are €0.15 for containers of 500 ml or less and €0.25 for containers above 500 ml. The deposit is refunded to the consumer when they return the container to a retailer or collection point. In addition to supporting recycling efforts, the scheme helps reduce on-the-go waste.