We need your help to tackle Ireland's waste
We need your help to push the government hard to adopt a strong Waste Reduction bill that would ban certain single use plastic items such as plastic cups, plates, cutlery, straws and stirrers and establish a deposit refund scheme (DRS) for plastic drinks bottles and aluminium cans. Not only will this reduce the amount of drinks containers littering our streets, beaches and countryside but it would also reduce the amount of plastic ending up in the marine environment.
Our work on plastic waste is an unfunded VOICE campaign. We need your help so we can continue this work to ensure passage of a strong waste reduction bill. Will you help us by joining this campaign with a donation?
VOICE has been very visible on this issue and will continue to publicise the actions Ireland needs to take. Together with Friends of the Earth, we are supporting the Sick of Plastic campaign to help mobilise the nation to take actions like the 'Shop and Drop Day of Action against Supermarket Packaging', but we cannot continue these actions without your support.
Minister Naughten is holding us back - he does not support the bill. VOICE have sent a joint letter with Friends of the Earth and An Taisce asking Denis Naughten to support the bill. Many European countries and US States are recycling 90% thanks to their DRS, here in Ireland we only recycle 65%. 1.3 plastic bottles are produced every year, 3 million of these are consumed daily and 1 million are going unrecycled each day.
Already, 20,000 people have signed an on-line petition and over 60 Tidy Towns groups have contacted their TDs and Hildegarde Naughton, the Chair of the Environment Committee, but we need to do more.
VOICE has been working on waste reduction for more than 20 years, we work hard to protect the environment from the polluting effects of those who put commercial convenience and greed ahead of your best interests.
Act now to help us turn this tide!
Contact your local TD asking them to support the Waste Reduction bill, TDs can pressure Minister Naughten to pass the bill.
It is critical that government joins the dots and has a comprehensive waste policy that:
- Reduces the amount of single use plastics through outright bans, reuse efforts such as the Conscious Cup Campaign and Refill.ie and through the use of compostable packaging where reuse is difficult
- Imposes levies on unsustainable plastic packaging to encourage shops to offer and consumers to use less packaging. Ireland’s plastic packaging consumption is 61 kg/person, which is double the EU average of 30 kg/person
- Captures on the go drinks containers to reduce the environmental destruction caused by litter and corresponding costs to clean it up (Dublin spends €25 million a year on litter and graffiti clean-up and waste management for street bins)
- Develops proper waste collection infrastructure both for households and for city and town streets. Many households and apartments still don’t have organic waste bins. Additionally, if shops and cafes move towards compostable packaging, we need proper bins to collect so that organic waste is sent to industrial composting facilities. Compostable coffee cups and takeaway packaging do not break down if left on the ground - they need to be sent for proper treatment. If they are put into normal refuse bins, they are just sent to landfill or incineration, thus wasting natural resources for our 10 minutes of use.
Although the EU Commission has released its Single Use Plastic legislation which would adopt many of the above provisions, this legislation has a long way to go before passage with the possibility of weakening amendments.
We can ensure real action on plastic is taken by making our voices heard.
Help us continue to fight for effective policies both on a government and business level and to work on the ground to help individuals and communities to reduce their waste.
With your help, we have a better chance of Ireland taking urgent action on waste.
