The 20c levy is expected to come into effect in the coming months.
As part of an effort to reduce waste and encourage the use of reusable items, the Government will be introducing a levy on disposable coffee cups in Ireland.
The legislation, which was approved by cabinet on Tuesday, will also see an increased use of CCTV to combat illegal dumping and littering.
The Circular Economy Bill published this morning is aimed at reducing waste and influencing behaviour.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Minister of State with responsibility for Communications and the new Circular Economy Ossian Smyth said approval will be needed from the EU before the levy comes into place.
At the moment, we send nearly half a million cups to landfill every day – that’s 200 million a year.
Mr Smyth said he hoped the levy will have a similar result as the plastic bag levy – after it was introduced, the reduction of plastic bag use was 95%. He has said he is “hoping to collect no money from this levy”, ast he hopes most people will be encouraged to switch over to reusable cups.
He explained that the Circular Economy Bill is about making a change from the way we have run our economy up to now – “which is to dig things out of the ground , make them into something, use them up and then dispose of them or put them into landfill, that’s the linear economy“. As part of the new legislation, the waste we produce will be considered a resource that feeds back into the rest of the economy, “so we’re not throwing away things and we’re not always having to extract new things to make the goods and services that we need”.
He added that this will make us more independent and self-sufficient as a nation, as we won’t have to rely on imports of raw materials.
Header image via Shutterstock
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