Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy

The Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy is Ireland’s new roadmap for waste planning and management. We need to embed climate action in all strands of public policy. This Plan shifts focus away from waste disposal and looks instead to how we can preserve resources by creating a circular economy.

The previous national waste policy, A Resource Opportunity – Waste management policy in Ireland, drove delivery on national targets under EU legislation, but the Irish and international waste context has changed in the years since its launch. A public consultation process on the new policy was completed in February 2020 with almost 300 responses received. A Waste Action Plan Advisory Group was also established, consisting of relevant stakeholders from the economic, environmental and social sectors. The Group assisted in the compilation of the new policy by guiding strategic thinking and decision making.

The Plan fulfils our commitment in the Programme for Government to publish and start implementing a new National Waste Action Plan. This new national waste policy will inform and give direction to waste planning and management in Ireland over the coming years. It will be followed later this year by an All of Government Circular Economy Strategy.

The Plan outlines the contribution of the sector to the achievement of a number of other national plans and policies including the Climate Action Plan. It also matches the level of ambition being shown across the European Union through the European Green Deal, which encompasses a range of actions supporting circularity and sustainability. To support the policy, regulation is already being used (Circular Economy Legislative Package), or in the pipeline (Single Use Plastics Directive).

The Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy sets out a range of aims and targets for the State and the measures by which these will be achieved, including increased regulation and measures across various waste areas such as Circular Economy, Municipal Waste, Consumer Protection and Citizen Engagement, Plastics and Packaging, Construction and Demolition, Textiles, Green Public Procurement and Waste Enforcement.

We have also put together an easy to digest infographic of the key actions and targets in the Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy.

The key targets under the Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy are:

Households and Businesses

• Recycling targets for waste collectors
• Standardised bin colours across the State: green for recycling, brown for organic waste and black for residual.
• Environmental levies- for waste recovery and single use coffee cups to encourage recycling and reuse
• Waste oversight body to manage consumer rights
• Education and awareness campaign to improve waste segregation

Food Waste

• Halve our food waste by 2030
• Sustainable food waste management options for all homes and businesses
• Waste segregation infrastructure for apartment dwellers

Plastic, Packaging and Single Use Plastic (SUP)

• Deposit and return scheme for plastic bottles and aluminium cans
• Single Use Plastics ban, including cotton bud sticks, cutlery, plates, stirrers, chopsticks, straws, polystyrene containers and oxo-degradable plastic products from July 2021.
• Commitment to ban further products such as (but not limited to) Wet wipes (non-medical); SUP hotel toiletries; SUP sugar/sauce/mayonnaise etc. items.
• Reduce number of SUPs being placed on the market by 2026

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)

• Mandatory EPR for all packaging producers before 2024 EU deadline
• Producers liable for eco modulation of fees
• All packaging reusable or recyclable by 2030

Construction and Demolition Waste

• Revision of the 2006 Best Practice Guidelines for C&D waste
• Streamline by-product notification and end-of-waste decision making processes
• Working group to develop national end-of-waste applications for priority waste streams

Textiles

• Textile action group to explore options to improve future circularity in textiles
• Work with Irish designers and retailers to promote eco-design for clothing and textiles
• Consider global impacts of the international trade in used textiles

Treatment

• Review State support for development of recycling infrastructure
• Examine legislation and procedures for development of waste management infrastructure
• Standardise waste streams accepted at civic amenity sites

Enforcement

• Expanded role for WERLAs to address priority waste enforcement challenges
• Unauthorised sites action plan and anti-dumping toolkit
• Fixed penalty notices for breaches of waste law

Government Leadership on Circular Economy

• High level All of Government Circular Economy Strategy
• Take the necessary steps to include green criteria and circular economy principles in all public procurement
• Develop Circular Economy Sectoral Roadmaps
• Explore how Ireland’s digital sector can accelerate transition to a circular economy