The collection and recycling of farm plastics will be discussed in a meeting of the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine today (Wednesday, April 19).
Representatives of the Irish Farm Film Producers Group CLG (IFFPG) and officials from the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications will speak before the committee.
The committee is particularly interested in the recycling levy which is charged to farmers and others at the point of purchase, and the levy which is charged at the point of collection.
The recycling levy increased from €160/t to €240/t in 2023, which equates to €6.24 per roll of standard wrap. Weight-based collection charges will remain at €70/t at the bring-centre and €120/t at the farmyard.
This is according to an IFFPG submission to the committee which states that for the average farmer who delivers 700kg of waste to their local bring-centre, a charge of approximately €49 will apply.
These levies, committee Cathaoirleach Deputy Jackie Cahill said, provide the funding for the IFFPG to cater for all of Ireland’s waste plastic. Speaking ahead of the meeting, he said:
“The main area of concern is reports that there is significant tonnage of plastic in collectors’ yards around the country, even though the purchase levy and collection levy have been paid on this.”
The IFFPG’s plans to recycle this plastic in the near future, and the current operation of the recycling scheme will be discussed at the meeting, the committee Cathaoirleach added.
Farm plastics
The recycling of farm plastics in Ireland is governed by EU and national legislation. The IFFPG is the national, not-for-profit recycling compliance scheme to protect Ireland’s rural environment.
The biggest challenge that the scheme has faced in recent years is the “massive escalation” in the cost of supplying to recyclers due to global events, the group said.
The IFFPG collects almost 90% of all waste at bring-centres, with the average bring-centre in 2022 seeing 190 farmers delivering a total of 170t of waste.
In 2022, 36,500t of silage wrap and pit cover waste were collected for recycling, which is equivalent to plastic from 18 million bales and represents a recycling rate of 88%.
Last year 45% of waste was recycled at Irish facilities, with the remainder going to European facilities, according to an IFFPG submission to the committee.
The Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine has nine members from the Dáil and five from the Seanad. The meeting in committee room three can be viewed live on Oireachtas TV.