Cullen announces Market Development Group for recycling

05/07/2004

Archived item. This item is published here for historical reasons. The information below may be out of date.

Cullen announces Market Development Group for recycling

Minister Martin Cullen has announced a new drive to develop markets for recycling. Announcing the establishment new Recycling Market Development Group today (4th July), Minister Cullen said that: "recycling rates are growing rapidly. We've got to match that trend by developing new markets in an expanding and increasingly sophisticated recycling sector."

The new Recycling Market Development Group will be chaired by Margaret Daly, Director, Margaret Daly, Economic Consultants Ltd and has a broad membership from the environmental, business and local authority communities.

Minister Cullen referenced the most recently published EPA National Waste Database report which highlighted the need for new markets and "brought into sharp focus the urgent need to find new markets if we are to continue to recycle more."

Minister Cullen highlighted the opportunities that new markets can bring to recycling. He said: "As an example, it takes just 25 plastic drink bottles to make one fleece jacket. 176,000 fleece jackets could have been made from the amount of plastic sent to Irish landfills in 2001. Rather than landfill, we need to find further markets that offer an alternative. I am confident that the Market Development Group can do that."

The Minister referenced plastic and paper waste as just two products where new recycling markets can make a difference. 220,000 tonnes of plastic was landfilled in Ireland in 2001. Almost half of all commercial waste is paper and can easily be recycled. In 2001, 640,000 tonnes of paper was landfilled in Ireland - this is the equivalent weight of almost 100,000 adult male African elephants.

166,305 tonnes of paper was recovered in Ireland in 2001 - the equivalent of 225,000 average sized cars. Producing recycled paper involves between 28-70% less energy consumption than virgin paper and uses less water.

"Margaret Daly and her colleagues on the 16 person group who are representative of a broad range of key public and private sector stakeholders will be focusing on identifying barriers to the use and marketing of recyclable material and making recommendations to me on how these can be overcome. The Group will also identify projects for assistance and I have asked that it concentrate initially on areas that are likely to yield early and substantial success", the Minister said. Enterprise Ireland are providing secretarial support to the Group - see list of members below.

Highlighting the need for even further progress in the years ahead, the Minister re-iterated his commitment to driving the waste agenda forward. "Just two months ago, I published an updated policy statement on waste management which provides firm foundations on which to build on the progress we have made in the waste area. I will be keeping this at the top of my priorities in the years ahead so that we maintain the momentum down the road towards sustainable waste management, and reap the associated environmental rewards."

"We are winning the Race Against Waste. The EPA's report indicates a very marked slowdown in waste generation compared to previous years, with household waste increasing by just 1% in 2002. We are now recycling up to 21% of the household waste we generate compared with single digit rates four years ago. 40% of households now have a green bin. Add to this the additional progress which has been made in 2003 in terms of the further roll out of recycling facilities and services and the increased recovery of packaging waste. We can therefore be confident that the up to date recycling rate is higher still, moving us ever closer to the 35% recycling target we have set for 2013", commented Minister Cullen.

The Minister emphasised that the progress achieved reflects the collective results of positive environmental choices being made by individuals in their daily lives, be it at home, at school or at work. "I have kept the modernisation of our approach to waste management at the top of my political agenda for the past 2 years. It is gratifying to see that the ordinary people of Ireland have responded so positively to the recycling "call to arms" and I am delighted that we have this sort of information from the EPA to show clearly to people that their individual efforts make a major collective difference."

Membership of Recycling Market Development Group

1. CHAIR - Ms Margaret Daly (Economic Consultant)

2. Mr Robert Rowan - Environmental Consultant

3. Mr Fred McDarby - Enterprise Ireland

4. Mr Donal Buckley - IBEC

5. Mr David Manning - IBEC

6. Mr Vincent Delaney - National Standards Authority of Ireland

7. Dr John Ryan - ISME

8. Mr Tadhg Coakley - Clean Technology Centre

9. Dr Gerry Byrne - EPA

10. Mr Joe Crockett - County and City Managers Association

11. Mr Erik O'Donovan - Irish Waste Management Association

12. Mr Fiacra Quinn - Small Firms Association

13. Mr Ray Gordon - Communications Consultant

14. Mr Pat Macken - Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government

15. Mr Brian Leech - Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government

16. Mr Gerry Wrynn - Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment