From Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications
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Consultation is closed
The national Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy sets out our commitment to introduce new environmental levies to encourage more responsible behaviour and phase out single-use products in the same way as we have done so successfully before through the Plastic Bag Levy. With the enactment of the Circular Economy and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2022 in July, the first of these environmental levies can be implemented.
The Minister of State for the Circular Economy is introducing an environmental levy on single-use cups for hot drinks to incentivise people to choose to re-use and to help reduce single-use waste. The levy will also encourage more people to think about other steps they can take in their daily lives to reduce waste and contribute to climate action.
The levy on single-use disposable cups is being introduced to incentivise people to choose to re-use and will work in a similar way to the plastic bag levy. The target date for the making of the levy regulations is December 2022. At least three months will be provided to allow appropriate preparation and transitional arrangements to be made before the levy is applied.
Under the new regulations:
This consultation has three strands – public consultation, retailer consultation and other stakeholder engagement - and will be open for a period of six weeks, closing at 5.30pm on 25 November 2022 .
This strand of the consultation is targeted at members of the public and consumers of takeaway beverages.
You can submit your views on the levy through a short survey which can be completed anonymously online. It is not necessary to answer all questions, additional comments are also welcome.
This strand of the consultation is targeted at businesses or traders who will be directly impacted by the regulations. This includes retailers or other traders who sell hot drinks in disposable cups.
You can submit your views on the levy through a short survey which can be completed anonymously online. It is not necessary to answer all questions, additional comments are also welcome.
This strand of the consultation is targeted at all other stakeholders. This includes any individual or entity not covered under the other strands, businesses operating in the cup manufacturing, distribution or related industries, public sector bodies, NGOs, business and citizen representative bodies and all other interested parties.
Draft of Environmental Levy (Single Use Cup) Regulations 2022
If you are having trouble accessing either of the surveys, you can contact us, or send a submission to us at SingleUse@decc.gov.ie or by post:
Circular Economy - Materials Management Division
Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications
Government Buildings
Newtown Road
Wexford
Y35 AP90
The closing date for submissions is 5.30pm 25 November 2022
We are committed to engaging with stakeholders in a clear, open and transparent manner. Any person or organisation can make a submission in relation to this consultation. All submissions and feedback will be considered before the final version of the Regulations are published.
Please note that responses to this consultation are subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2014 (FOI), Access to Information on the Environment Regulations 2007-2018 (AIE) and the Data Protection Act 2018.
Please also note that we intend to publish the contents of all submissions received to our consultations on our website. We will redact personal data prior to publication. In responding to this consultation, parties should clearly indicate where their responses contain personal information, commercially sensitive information or confidential information which they would not wish to be released under FOI, AIE or otherwise published.
We would like to draw your attention to our Data Protection which explains how and when we collect personal data, why we do so and how we treat this information. It also explains your rights in relation to the collection of personal information and how you can exercise those rights.
Public Consultation Report - Draft Circular Economy (Environmental Levy) (Single-Use Cup) Regulations
Consultation on Disposable Cup Levy - Summary of Responses
SME Test - Draft Circular Economy (Environmental Levy) (Single-Use Cup) Regulations February 2023