Industrial waste levy boosts recycling drive

IN RESPONSE to the letter headlined ‘Rubbish the rich’ (Irish Examiner, Jan 29) advocating the Sinn Fein idea on the imposition of a packaging levy on business, I would like to draw attention to the Waste Management (Packaging) Regulations, 1997.

This legislation currently requires industry to collect, recycle and recover its own packaging waste, or pay for this to be done.

Repak, as an approved body under the regulations, levies industry (based on type and volume of packaging waste produced) and uses these monies to pay supports for the recycling of packaging waste throughout Ireland.

Through the scheme Repak helped Ireland exceed its 2001 EU packaging waste recycling target.

Darrell Crowe,

Repak,

Red Cow Interchange,

Clondalkin,

Dublin 24.