24/04/2003

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 The information below may be out of date.

Cullen Announces €55 Million Environment Fund For 2003

€35 million for waste recycling/recovery in 2003

Revenue from plastic bag levy invested in recycling

Mr. Martin Cullen, T.D., Minister for the Environment and Local Government, today (24th April 2003) announced a €55 million environmental expenditure programme under the Environment Fund for 2003.

Making the announcement, Minister Cullen said: “We are backing words with deeds. This record level of investment will mean more recycling facilities for communities. Recycling figures are improving but with facilities in place, there can be no more excuses”.

The Environment Fund was established with the revenues obtained from the Plastic Bag Levy introduced in March 2002 and the Landfill Levy introduced in July 2002. It will lead to further “bring banks” for recyclable materials and civic amenity sites for recyclables and bulky household wastes across the country. The money will also be used for litter prevention programmes and waste awareness initiatives.

The Minister is making €35 million available for waste recycling/recovery initiatives in 2003. He also gave details of a second round of capital grant assistance in respect of proposed local authority recycling facilities.

Minister Cullen called on Local Authorities to ‘ramp-up’ their efforts on recycling. He said: “Unprecedented funds are now available for recycling. Elected members and officials at local level have made progress on recycling in recent years however problems remain. My message to local authorities is clear - those that are driving the environmental agenda will be rewarded, those that are not will go to the back of the queue”.

Minister Cullen said: “During 2003, this Government is providing unprecedented levels of funding for environmental protection and improvement. I made it clear from the outset that the provision of better waste management services and infrastructure is my top environmental priority, and that I would provide strong financial support in order to facilitate progress. I am introducing a range of new and innovative initiatives that will transform the face of waste management in Ireland, and this is reflected in my expenditure priorities.

“I am making available €35 million in direct grant assistance from the Environment Fund in respect of waste recycling/recovery activity. It is intended that the bulk of this expenditure - about €26 million - will go towards new or improved recycling infrastructure, a further €5 million will be provided to local authorities to offset the rising operational costs of existing recycling facilities, about €4 million will be provided to meet local authority planning and procurement costs arising from the provision of regional waste infrastructure. This is additional to proposed expenditure of €20 million on a range of other waste and environmental measures”, he said.

Among the other initiatives and measures to be supported from the Environment Fund in 2003 are:

the establishment of a National Waste Prevention Programme;

the establishment of a Market Development Programme for recyclable materials, a Recycling Consultative Forum, and support for community recycling initiatives;

a new waste education and awareness campaign; and

better enforcement of environmental legislation.

Details of expenditure on these individual initiatives will be announced over the coming months.

Recycling grants

A first round of recycling grants was announced in November 2002, and the Minister today announced a second round of grant allocations totalling up to €8.35m in respect of a further 17 local authority recycling projects.

Minister Cullen stated: “Since November 2002, under the EU co-financed waste management measure of the Regional Operational Programmes, I have allocated over €22m towards 71 local authority recycling projects (see attached schedule), and further allocations will follow during the year. This level of financial assistance is unprecedented – by comparison, total grant assistance for recycling over the five year term of the last Operational Programme was £7.7 million.

“We need to reduce our current reliance on landfill and significantly improve our recycling rates for glass, paper, metals, plastics and other recoverable materials. Accordingly, during 2003 and beyond, I intend to provide very significant funding to incentivise the provision of the necessary collection and treatment facilities”, said the Minister.

The capital grants scheme, which is provided for in the Regional Operational Programmes managed by the Regional Assemblies, is targeted at recycling infrastructure that reflects the waste hierarchy (see attached note for editors). Under the scheme, grant assistance is available towards the capital cost of a range of recovery facilities, in particular –

“bring banks” for recyclable materials,

civic amenity sites (for recyclables and bulky household wastes),

transfer stations facilitating recovery activities,

materials recovery facilities (MRFs) for “dry” recyclables; and

biological treatment of "green" and organic household waste;

“These grant allocations are directed primarily at recycling infrastructure that will be visible at local level, that will help raise awareness and allow the general public to make a more significant contribution to our national recycling effort”, the Minister stated.

“Grant assistance since November 2002 will support the provision of about 580 new “bring” bank sites around the country (compared to about 1400 sites currently), 25 new and 5 expanded civic amenity sites, 9 composting facilities, one new and one expanded MRF, as well as the upgrading of many existing “bring banks”.

“These facilities are the basic building blocks of an integrated waste management infrastructure” said the Minister. “We must harness public goodwill and support for waste recycling and make it as easy as possible for the individual householder to make a contribution. I am anxious that grant recipients make every effort to deliver the approved facilities and draw down their grant allocations as soon as possible.” 

The Minister called for the rapid implementation of regional waste management plans. Noting that both Regional Assemblies are embarking on a mid-term review of their Operational Programmes, he stated.

He continued: “It is timely to review progress in the waste management area over the three year period 2000-2003. While there were delays in the adoption of regional waste management plans, local authorities have now started to make progress on the ground, and I strongly believe that the Waste Management measure will be one of the NDP success stories, with significant Exchequer/EU expenditure bringing about major improvements in our recycling capacity.

“The private sector can play a significant role in waste management, and I am hopeful that we will soon receive State Aids approval from the European Commission to allow us to assist commercial recycling projects. However, local authorities are central to overall progress. They must take the lead and drive the waste agenda at local and regional level. I expect local authorities to intensify their delivery of the regional waste management plans, including improved public education and awareness, the steady roll-out of segregated collection services, and necessary infrastructure. This requires a significant commitment of financial and human resources, and a willingness to take hard decisions, where necessary”, the Minister concluded.

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Note for Editors

The Environment Fund was established with the revenues obtained from the plastic bags levy introduced in March 2002 and the Landfill Levy introduced in July 2002.

The internationally recognised waste hierarchy gives priority to, respectively -

prevention,

minimisation,

reuse and recycling (including biological treatment),

energy recovery, and

environmentally sustainable disposal of waste which cannot be prevented or recovered.

Accordingly, the Capital Grants Scheme under the NDP targets assistance on those waste activities that are considered “high in hierarchy”. Grant assistance is not being provided towards the capital costs of thermal treatment facilities or landfills (other than, possibly, to incentivise the provision of hazardous waste landfill capacity, the need for which is identified in the National Hazardous Waste Management Plan).

Assistance is being provided at a grant rate of 75% of eligible costs, in respect of local authority projects. Aid rates applicable to private sector projects will be determined by EU rules on State Aids.

Repak Ltd., which was established by industry to support the recovery of packaging waste, proposes to assist the ongoing roll-out of “bring” banks by providing receptacles and other materials to local authorities. Accordingly, such assistance will reduce the capital costs incurred by local authorities in developing these facilities, which may result in relatively minor adjustments to relevant local authority allocations.

The term “recovery” encompasses recycling, composting and other biological treatments of organic wastes, and thermal treatment with energy recovery.

The term “recycling” encompasses both recycling of “dry” recyclables - e.g. paper and cardboard, glass, metals, plastics and the biological treatment of “wet” recyclables - e.g. food and organic garden (“green”) wastes.

Materials recovery facilities (MRFs) are used for the segregation and baling of dry recyclable materials for onward transport to reprocessing facilities.