Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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22. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he aware of the 2018 Competition and Consumer Protection Commission report on household waste collection; if he has any plans to establish an economic regulator in the sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29977/24]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The recommendations of the 2018 Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) report on the Operation of the Household Waste Collection Market, which considered issues such as market structure, competition and charges to households, were fully considered during the process of drafting of the Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy (WAPCE), launched in September 2020.

While the WAPCE does not envisage a change to the current market structure, it does contain a range of measures to empower households through enhanced consumer protection requirements. In terms of further improving waste performance, the focus for my Department is to encourage greater waste minimisation, improved waste segregation and increase our recycling rates. The provisions of the Circular Economy & Miscellaneous Provisions Act have allowed for a number of significant measures to be introduced from the WAPCE, including:

• incentivised waste collection charging in the commercial sector from 01 July 2023,
• a recovery levy on municipal waste recovery operations at municipal landfills, waste to energy plants, co-incineration plants and to the export of waste from 01 September 2023,
• the expansion of household bio-waste collection services from 31 December 2023 and
• the introduction of a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for single use PET plastic bottles and aluminium and steel cans which went live on February 1 2024.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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23. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he considers it appropriate that waste collection companies pass on the cost of the deposit return scheme to households; if he has spoken to waste collection companies to discuss this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29978/24]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The introduction of the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for plastic bottles and aluminium cans is one of the most positive consumer behaviour initiatives to happen in this country for decades – similar to the plastic bags initiative, or the ban on harmful cigarette smoke in our workplaces.

Every day now, over 3 million plastic bottles and cans are being returned by consumers themselves, which is remarkable and testament to the success of the initiative.

In developing the DRS, the Department has engaged extensively with all stakeholders:

• The Department established a DRS sub-group of the national Waste Advisory Group with representatives from the producers, retailers, environmental NGOs and the waste sector. The minutes from those meetings are published on the Department’s gov.ie website.
• A public consultation was carried out in October 2020 on the potential models for a DRS. This consultation, along with copies of submissions received, has been published on the Department’s gov.ie website.
• A second public consultation was carried out in April 2021 on the proposed legislative framework and scope of the DRS. This consultation, along with copies of submissions received, has also been published on the Department’s gov.ie website.