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necropolist
necropolist
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Environmental Taxation & EU issues pt2
Oct 15, 2003, 11:56
Household Waste going to Landfill as a proportion of All Waste going to Landfill is 15%

As part of their propaganda campaign to have the bin tax implemented, the Minister for the Environment and others frequently attempt to make householders feel as if they are responsible for the bulk of waste production. As the figures above show, in fact, householders account for a small proportion of all waste produced and for 15% of waste going to landfill.

A favourite slogan of the Minister and of the pro bin tax lobby is ‘The Polluter Pays’ applying this to householders. This slogan should be rejected. All the evidence is that householders are waste receivers rather than polluters and would have far less materials to dispose of if commercial and retail outlets cut down on packaging and if the proper recycling infrastructure existed. Nevertheless there are significant measures which could be taken to reduce the amount of waste which householders are obliged to deal with.

How an effective waste reduction policy would work:

Reduction at Source; Outlawing unnecessary packaging would reduce a significant amount of packaging waste that households have to dispose of.
Is there any serious intent on the part of Government, when we find in supermarkets and shops widespread practices such as the use of polystyrene trays and plastic wrapping used to wrap fresh vegetables, fruit and even pastries? Or when each month, millions of cartons of Tetrapak milk or juice cartons going to landfill, as they cannot be recycled?

Investment in Recycling Infrastructure:
Sufficient investment must be made to provide a comprehensive recycling infrastructure in each area. Byelaws can then be implemented requiring that no recyclable materials go to landfill.

A comprehensive public education programme should be undertaken showing why each citizen, household and corporate or other organisation should comply with reduction at source, reuse and recycling policies.

The EU and Waste Policy in Ireland

The Government frequently uses the cover of the EU for justification of the bin tax. The EU came up with the slogan ‘The polluter pays’ and that slogan has been dealt with earlier. But it is very important to see exactly what the EU Directives are saying. It will be seen, in fact, that the Directives do not direct Governments on precisely how waste management should be paid for.
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