Drinks supply industry warns it won’t tolerate extra taxes
Beverage Council of Ireland (BCI) president James Connolly also said his industry must not be held responsible for tackling the litter problem.
He told the council’s annual conference that they were already making a significant contribution to the cost of ensuring that corporate Ireland achieved its national waste targets.
Mr Connolly said there was a tacit agreement that for as long as Repak delivered on its national targets for packaging waste, the Government would not impose any more additional taxes.
“From time to time, we hear rumblings about additional charges being imposed on the beverage industry and those rumblings keep us awake at night,” he said, at the council’s annual conference in Hotel Europe, Killarney.
“Very often, the harbingers of these messages cannot distinguish between the management of waste packaging per se and the issue of litter.
“Litter is a societal problem. It is primarily about attitude, education and responsibility. The beverage industry bears its responsibility for packaging waste whereas the public at large must be held responsible for tackling the litter problem,” he continued.
Mr Connolly said his was a responsible industry, which would continue to pay its fair share of the cost of managing waste, but should not have to pay more than its fair share.
He described the ‘fat tax’ proposal as utterly ludicrous, adding that, yet again, it brought non-alcoholic drinks into focus, 60% of which were now in the no sugar, or diet, category.
The beverage industry employs 4,000 people in 60 companies which supply alcohol and soft drinks to more than 40,000 outlets including pubs, off-licences and supermarkets.
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