I want to see phase out of polystyrene fast food packaging - Minister

"While positive progress has been made on litter management - and in changing people‘‘s attitudes to litter - in Ireland in recent years, there is still significant scope for improvement", so said Mr. Dick Roche, T.D., Ireland‘‘sMinister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government when announcing proposals to tackle specific problematic litter items.

The Minister was speaking on the completion of a public consultation process which had been initiated in September 2004 following the publication of a consultancy report on the application of economic instruments on automated teller machine (ATM) receipts, chewing gum and fast-food packaging.

The Minister said that having considered the recommendations of the consultancy report and the submissions subsequently received from the relevant sectors during the public consultation process, he has now decided to commence a process of negotiating agreements with the relevant sectors. "This will give these sectors - in effect, the producers of the items concerned which end up as litter - an opportunity to propose positive and meaningful measures to minimise the impact of the items they produce in causing nuisance litter." Minister Roche will also seek a commitment to the phasing out of polystyrene in fast-food packaging, in favour of biodegradable materials, as part of any negotiated agreement with the fast-food sector.

Minister Roche added: "While citizens have a civic responsibility not to cause litter, the producers of problematic litter items also have a responsibility and need to be more proactive in minimising the litter pollution caused by the items they produce. It is only through intensive anti-litter activities and concerted co-ordinated action that we will be able to successfully address the litter problem in Ireland." "While the consultancy report had recommended that a mandatory levy should be applied on chewing gum with the proceeds generated being used to tackle the litter problems caused by that product, I have decided - following the case made by the chewing gum industry during the public consultation process - to give that sector an opportunity to propose a comprehensive Action Plan to address the problems caused by that product", stated Minister Roche.

The Minister warned that no-one should be under any illusions, if that sector fails to propose meaningful measures encompassing an appropriate level of funding to address the problems caused within a short timeframe, the application of a mandatory levy on chewing gum will be back on the agenda. "The cleaning-up of chewing gum is both problematical and expensive, not helped by the adhesive nature of the product, and it is something that must be addressed."

"The overall costs incurred by local authorities in litter management and street cleaning are quite substantial - an estimated ?70m in 2003, of which only ?2.74m was offset by litter fines, with the balance having to be funded from local authority resources. Progressive and concerted action is therefore needed to reduce the amount of litter on our streets, but also the associated costs incurred by local authorities in dealing with it", concluded the Minister