International Review of Waste Management Policy - Department of ...

27.0 Plastic Bag Levy - Ireland
27.1 Outline of Policy
The plastic bag levy targets disposable plastic carrier bags with the specific intention
of reducing their consumption. A tax of €0.15 per bag was introduced in Ireland on
the 4th of March 2002 under the Waste Management (Environmental Levy) (Plastic
Bag) Regulations 2001. On 1 st July 2007 the levy was increased from €0.15 to €0.22
per bag. There are exemptions for smaller plastic bags that meet specific conditions
and are used to store non-packaged goods such as dairy products, fruit and
vegetables, nuts, confectionary, hot or cold cooked food and ice. These are known as
levy-free bags. Re-usable plastic bags are also exempt as long as the charge for the
bag exceeds €0.70.
The levy is applied at the point of sale, and retailers are obliged to pass on the levy to
the customer. The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government
(DoEHLG) recently initiated a Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA) on the proposed
legislation to increase levies on plastic shopping bags in August 2008. It is proposed
that the existing rules governing the level of the levies (on landfill and plastic bags)
(Sections 72 and 73 of the Waste Management Act) are amended to allow the
Minister sufficient flexibility to increase the levy without frequent recourse to primary
legislation. The outcomes of the RIA are not yet published (as of October 31 st 2008).
27.2 Policy Context and Reason for Introduction
The decision to introduce the plastic bag levy followed a 1999 study on behalf of the
DoEHLG documenting the issues of plastic bags and their environmental impact. 571
The report recommended a levy as the most appropriate means of reducing
consumption of plastic shopping bags and thereby reducing consequent
environmental problems.
The levy was introduced primarily as an anti-litter measure, with plastic bags a highly
visible component of litter, strongly associated in the public mind with the problem of
litter pollution. The materials used to make most plastic bags do not biodegrade
(within any reasonable timeframe) and therefore persist in the environment unless
collected. Plastic bags are often caught in trees, along river banks, in parks and other
public spaces and can pose a danger to wildlife. This problem is often more acute in
rural areas where local authorities do not have the capacity to provide regular
street/road cleaning.
The litter reduction objective is an important one to recognise. To the extent that
plastic was deemed more problematic in this regard, switching to bags made of other
571 Fehily, Timoney & Company (1999) Consultancy Study on Plastic Bags, Report prepared for the
Department of Environment and Local Government, Dublin. Press Release March 2002.
487
International Review of Waste Policy: Annexes